Buying Bella Back
by PlasticineFan
Summary: Bella and Edward were High School sweethearts, but when Edward turned 18, he disappeared. 4 years later, Edward's a millionaire and he wants his Bella back. His problem? Jacob. E/B AH, slightly OOC.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: B/E. In high school, Edward and Bella were sweethearts. But, as Edward hit 18, he was pulled out of school by his father and sent to work for the family business. 4 years later, Edward's a millionaire and wants his Bella back. His problem? Jacob. AH, a little OOC.**

_My first fanfic. Please enjoy :)_

**Chapter One**

"Seared Salmon with hot potatoes, no tomato, and a chicken caesar salad, Bells!" I heard the booming voice call from behind the slightly open wooden door.

"Getting right on it, Em" I told him as I rushed to finish my previous order. "Pretty busy tonight, huh Jasper?" I asked the guy standing next to me.

"Busy? We haven't had this many customers since you decided to wear that mini skirt on your waitressing shift." He looked at me slyly from the corner of his eye and smirked at me a little.

I could feel my cheeks standing to burn a little. "You had to bring that up, didn't you?"

"Yup. Hey, did you ever give Joshua a call?" He was full blown laughing at me now. On that particular shift, I had received a few numbers. I didn't consider myself pretty, not like Rosalie, but I know I wasn't _ugly._ I received a number though, from a certain Joshua, who happened to be thirteen years old. I'm not sure who was more humiliated, me for getting the boy's number, or Rosalie for _not _getting it.

The kitchen door opened, and in walked Rosalie. Rosalie looked like a supermodel, as always. Shiny slightly curly blonde hair, beautiful ice blue eyes, outlined in heavy eyeliner to make them look even more startling and light blush. She was wearing short black skirt and a tight but not too revealing plain red shirt. A white belt with intricate black designs resided on her waist. Whatever she wore, she always looked amazing. Topping that off with her air of confidence, she could get any man she wanted. Emmett was pretty lucky that she only wanted him.

"Hey guys, can't talk, so busy out there, sorry I'm a little late, babysitter, couldn't find my keys, all that shit. I've got orders to take, bye", Rosalie said that in one breathe and glided out the door. I couldn't blame her for being late, she did have to look after a three year old child.

After my graduation, I had gone into editing. I had always had a thing for cooking, but believed that I'd become some kind of author. I was glad for the oppertunity Jasper gave me. I guess it just happened.

**Flashback**

_I was once again eating at La Bella Italia. Jessica, along with Lauren, had dragged me here. I knew why she wanted to come here. One waiter in particular. Mike._

_I sighed._

_Jess had a crush on him. He used to go to our school back in Forks, where Jessica and Lauren still lived actually, and had travelled to Seattle for a girls night out as we still kept in touch and I hadn't seen either for months. I'd have much preferred to be out with Alice right now. But we hadn't been speaking so much anymore. But anyway, Mike had moved to Seattle around the same time as I had and had gotten a job as a waiter. I honestly couldn't see him as anything else. This was probably the best job he could get with his intellect. Not that I had anything against Mike, he had always been friendly towards me, but I'd say we were just acquaintances at the most in High school._

_Jess and Mike were close friends in High school, but they'd never moved a step further. So, on my first night off the paper for weeks, I was being dragged to a restaurant to eat food that tasted like cardboard and ogle a man-boy who was wearing the same pair of jeans I had seen him in the last two times I had come here._

"_Hey, I'm going to the bathroom Jess, I'll be back in a few." She didn't even look at me, still staring lustily over Mike, just nodded to acknowledge my statement. I guess that was the best response I was going to get. Getting away form that awful food, I headed towards the bathroom. The food here was disgusting. I didn't understand how anyone could stomach it. Actually, that wasn't completely true. One or twice, I'd been served the most amazing food I had ever eaten. I assumed there was one specific chef that had talent, but was unfortunate enough to have to work here. I was right._

_On my way to the bathroom, I tripped over someone. Of course, it had to be a waiter. And, of course, it was Mike. I would've laughed at his facial expression ,but I had just realised he had been carrying food, which was, of course, all over me. And, again, of course, the food was for my table._

_An extremely handsome blonde man exited the kitchen, looking thoroughly pissed. He opened his mouth to scold Mike, but noticed my presence, and shaking his head, motioned for me to follow him._

_After I cleaned myself up, I turned to apologise to the man. "I'm extremely sorry about knocking your waiter over and maybe even scarring him for life. I'm pretty sure it was the food for my table though,, so that's a bonus. and I'll definitely pay for the food that got ruined. God! I can't believe I was so stupid and-"_

_The blonde guy cut off my apology by bursting out laughing. I looked at him questioningly, and when his laughter didn't subside, I glared at him. He laughed louder once more, and then shut himself up. "I'm sorry…"_

"_Bella."_

"_I'm sorry, Bella, but that was possibly one of the most hilarious and longest apologies that I'd ever heard. I didn't think you were ever going to shut up," I glared at him again, "but don't worry, it happens, and I don't mind remaking your meals again."_

_I waited in the kitchen with him while he cooked the food and we talked. At one point, while he was busy, I turned my attention to the other chefs. I noticed one of them trying to chop up an onion. It was probably one of the poorest excuses for chopped food imaginable. _

_I rushed over to him. "No! You don't cut it like _that! _Here, let me do it." I finished the onion, and ended up making the rest of the meal. Jasper seemed to notice that I was the one making the meals._

_He walked over, picked up the finished curry and tasted it. His eyes lit up. "Bella, are you a chef or something?" He asked me._

"_Um, no… I'm actually write articles for the-" I explained_

"_Not anymore you don't!" Once again, he cut me off. "Bella, you now work at La Bella Italia. Come by tomorrow and I'll tell you all about it."_

**End Flashback**

Turned out that Jasper was the guy who could create the amazing meals. I started working for him at La Bella Italia, but after a while, the business started to go down-hill, so we both decided to quit.

Jasper and I opened our own restaurant with the money we had saved. Rosalie, Jasper's cousin, was soon hired as a waitress, for her very good social skills and excellent talent of bringing all men within the twenty mile radius to the restaurant. Her husband, Emmett, left his job at a local car dealing firm as the pay was ridiculously low for his working hours. He applied for a job at the restaurant, even though he had no need to, and we hired him in a heartbeat. He works as a waiter, but occasionally helps out with the cooking if Jasper and I get overwhelmed. Suppose it's because he loves food. He'd never stop eating if it was possible.

Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Emmett skipped, yes, a grown man with arms as thick as my body, _skipped _into the kitchen. He grinned toothily, showing all of his dimples off. He, like Jasper, was pretty good looking, with dark brown curly hair, big brown eyes, large muscles and a cute boyish face. Jasper was slightly shorter than him, although still talk, a bit leaner, with blonde hair, the same shade as Rosalie, and the same startling ice blue eyes.

"Yo, yo, yo, sup peeps?" Emmett screamed in our faces.

"Erm… nothing, Emmett? How are you tonight?" I asked politely. I loved Emmett like a brother, but to be honest, right now, I was slightly scared of him.

"I'm aight! Mah shifts ova, so I'ma head out." His shift was over? How long was I reminiscing?

"That's good. Emmett, are you feeling alright?" Jasper asked, almost as confused as me.

"Yeah. I'm feeling pretty good actually. Rosie's shift will be over in about an hour and a half, so little Emmie gets a treat tonight", he explained, back to speaking normally and waggled his eyebrows and grinning.

"We, uh, didn't need to hear about that Emmett" Jasper said, looking slightly uncomfortable about being told what his cousin was up to tonight.

"I'ma bounce! I'll holla at ya'll lata!" Emmett grabbed his coat and existed the door.

Jasper and I slowly turned to look at each other, and gave one another a look as if to say 'What the fuck?'

- - - -

It was half past eleven and Jasper and I were closing up the restaurant after an extremely hard day of work. Rosalie had left twenty minutes earlier. The cleaner had finished up a few minutes ago, and Jasper and I were now standing outside the restaurant, setting the alarm and locking the door.

"Hey, Bells, you want to head over to Starbucks and get a coffee before you head home?" Jasper asked me.

"Sure, I'd only be going home to sleep, and I'm not feeling very tired at the moment."

Jasper grabbed my hand and dragged me to his car. We had been best friends for almost three years, and saw each other almost every day, so holding hands wasn't a big deal for us. We arrived at Starbucks and I ordered a black coffee, my usual. Jasper ordered the same.

We sat down at a table by the window. There weren't very many people around, probably because it was almost midnight.

"How's your man, Bells?" Jasper asked slyly.

I giggled at him. "Yeah, he's doing good, but he won't be home till about two a.m. He's doing overtime tonight for some reason."

"Maybe he's saving up for something." I could have sworn Jasper was hinting something at me, but I couldn't be sure, so I just changed the subject.

"So, Jasper, I hear you and Alice are getting on very well recently." I watched the colour flood into his cheeks as he blushed.

"Uh, yeah, we've been hanging out a lot lately. She's so much fun." About two months ago, Alice had visited the restaurant to pick me up. We were going out for coffee again. She'd only ever seen Rosalie and the various other waiters in the restaurant, and they became good friends fast. She'd then gone on to meet Emmett when her and Rose had gone out one night and Emmett had picked them up. I was glad she had made another friend, since I hadn't had much time to spend with Alice for ages.

Anyway, I called Alice into the kitchen, and for the first time ever, she met Jasper. Lets just say, when we left for coffee, I had to drag her away, and all the while at the coffee shop it was constantly 'Bella, how old is Jasper?', 'Bella, what's Jasper's favourite type of music?' and 'Bella, does Jasper have a girlfriend?'. They've been practically inseparable since.

"Bella…" My head snapped up at the tone of Jasper's voice.

"You okay, Jazz?" I was starting to get slightly panicky.

"Yeah, Bella, everything's great." He broke into a huge grin. "I think I'm in love with Alice", he whispered happily.

I squealed. I actually squealed.

"Oh my God Jasper! That's fantastic!" I was so happy. I mean, my two best friends were in love! I already knew Alice loved him, she'd shouted it in my ear over the phone enough times. I just hoped he'd get the guts to tell her soon, although I had no doubt that Alice would tell him soon enough.

I jumped up and pulled him into a hug. He smiled and laughed with me.

Half an hour later, I had said my goodbyes to Jasper after he dropped me back outside the restaurant so I could collect my car, an old blue Nissan Micra. It wasn't anything special, but I still loved it.

I pulled my phone out on the drive home. Scrolling down the number, I dialled my boyfriends number. I knew he wouldn't be home for another hour at the earliest, but I just wanted to talk to him.

After three rings, he picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey Jake…"

- - - -

_Well, here's my first ever Chapter :) I hope you guys don't get too bored. And yes, this is a B/E story, just not quite yet. Edward hasn't made an appearance yet, but he will. Soon, I promise!_

_Oh, by the way, I'm going to write some of my favourite songs each chapter. Just because I can. Hehe._

_Prodigy - Warrior's Dance_

_Marmaduke Duke - Rubber Lover_

_Green Day - Know Your Enemy_

_Bloc Party - Signs_

_Black Eyed Peas - Party All The Time _

_Please review!_

_-Ro x_


	2. Chapter 2

_Hello you wonderful people :)_

_Well, here's Chapter Two! Edward's not in this chapter… but don't worry! You'll see him, very, _very _soon._

_Enjoy!_

**Chapter Two**

"Bella, honey, I'm just heading out to the grocery store, then I'm heading to Billy's, okay?" Jacob called out to me from the front door.

"Sure Jake, but remember we have reservations at six thirty, and you've got to be back so you can dress nicely." I called back. I strolled out of the kitchen and into the hallway, where I could see Jacob smirking.

"I always dress nicely, and you know it. I don't need you to dress me. Although you could if you wanted to…" he trailed off, waggling his eyebrows.

"Ugh, just get going" I told him, a small smile pulling at my lips, as I shoved him out of the open door.

I watched him walk to his car, a Volkswagen Rabbit, open the door and climb in. He leaned out of the open window and shouted, "I love you Bells!"

I grinned a little and responded "Love you too, Jakey" and watched as he pulled away and drove off.

Closing the door, I sighed and sprawled out on the sofa. Telling Jacob I loved him made me a little uncomfortable. I didn't understand why. I always felt like that whenever I said it. When you told someone you loved them, you were supposed to feel happy, never uncomfortable, right? I did love him, didn't I? Sighing again, I stood up and prepared for some of the most horrifying hours of my life.

- - - -

"BELLLAAAAA!" A small black blur jumped into my arms and squealed into my ear. "I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU IN AGGGGEEEESSSS!"

"Alice," I chuckled, "I saw you two days ago when we met up for coffee, and I waved to you earlier when I passed when you were on your way to work". I disentangled myself from her arms and placed her right on her feet. Ah, Alice. My best friend. I loved her like a sister, ever since we met, six years back in high school. She was always there, helping me, through my difficult time… I cursed my mind as it thought back to what happened all those years ago. But that didn't matter now. I had Jake. But still… I couldn't help my mind wondering to _him _every so often.

"Yeaaahh… BUT, we haven't had any proper girl time like this for ages! I've missed playing Bella Barbie. You never let me anymore." She pouted at me, and I had to look away before I started crying and begging at her feet for forgiveness. It was true though. I had been neglecting Alice recently when it came to girl time. We only ever met up over coffee, talking over the phone and the occasional e-mail. It was my fault really. I neglected most of my friends. After the… um… _incident_, I tried so hard with everyone to get things back to normal, to pretend everything was alright. But around two years ago, I didn't want to pretend anymore. Even though I had Jasper, it didn't fill _that _kind of void. I wanted a relationship. So, I had started hanging around with Jacob. And now, I'm extremely glad I did.

"You know I'm sorry, Alice," I told her with a pout of my own, "but I promise I'll spend a lot more time with you. Actually, how about tomorrow I let you take me shopping?" I internally winced at my own use of the word shopping, but I was intent on making it up to Alice any way I could.

"You… you're… _volunteering_ to go shopping?" Alice placed both her hands on my shoulders and shook. Hard. "Who the _hell _are you and what have you done with my best friend Bella?"

I laughed out loud at her little display and tugged her hands off my shoulder. I grabbed onto her hand and pulled her along with me. "C'mon Ali, you want to play Bella Barbie or not? I've only got an hour and a half before I meet Jacob at the restaurant and I really want tonight to go well… unlike last time," I cringed and missed a beat in my walking.

Alice giggled. "Yeah, when you told me that, I almost peed my pants." She was laughing hysterically now, damn her! "Only you would walk out the bathroom with your skirt tucked in your pants, spill wine all over Jacob and fall over walking out the door. Only you, Isabella Marie Swan." She grinned up at me, and I stuck my tongue out at her.

We arrived in my room and soon she was in my closet, rummaging through my clothes and chucking random items onto the bed, while I tried my best to avoid each item of clothing heading my way.

"Sooo… what's going on with you and Jacob at the moment? You've been dating for almost two year, are you thinking about the future yet? Are you gonna get engaged? Married? Buy a better house? Have lots and lots of little Bellas and Ja- OW!" I quickly cut her off before she could finish her last statement by pinching her arm. She glared at me while rubbing the red mark I'd made on her arm.

I sighed. "Look Alice, I don't know. I don't know if we'll get engaged, I don't know if we'll get married, I don't know if we'll get a better - HEY! What's wrong with my house?" I looked at her through narrowed eyes.

"Nothings wrong with it." She grinned sheepishly at me while rubbing the back of her neck.

"Alice, I don't really know what will happen to Jake and I next. I'd prefer not to think about it. I've learnt not to think about the future… especially after…" I didn't get to finish, which I was glad of, before Alice had jumped up from my bed and wrapped her arms around my body. I hugged her back, but soon pulled my arms away from her and smiled.

"Sorry Bella, I didn't really think of the whole," she paused and look at me, as if to make sure it was okay. I smiled at her and nodded my head, and she continued "Edward situation. I don't really understand it myself. You two were made for each other, I saw that the first time I even met you two! But he just disappeared without a trace."

I smiled sadly at her. "I don't get it either. I loved him. He told me he loved me too… And then one day, he didn't call. I went to his house, and Carlisle told me he had to leave… I didn't understand. I still don't." I looked down, grimacing slightly. Again, Alice wrapped her small arms around my frame. I'd explained this story to her countless times, but she still listened. I had long passed crying over him. The whole situation didn't matter to me anymore. I had Jake now.

Smiling timidly, I stood up straight and took a deep breath. Looking directly into Alice's eyes, I told her, "I'm not going to care anymore. So, c'mon Alice, help me get dressed," a big grin erupted on my face, "and you can tell me about your date with Jasper last week while you do."

- - - -

Just under an hour later, Alice had created a miracle. Dressed in a startling red halter dress, white stiletto heels (much to my dismay, but knowing Alice for six years meant that I had gotten used to them by now) and my hair down in loose curls. Alice had put very light make-up on me, a little eye shadow, lip gloss and eyeliner.

"Alice… I look… _good!_" I said in awe, looking at my reflection in the mirror, turning this way and that.

"BELLA! You look beautiful _all _the time! I just gave you a little more… 'oomph'."

"Thank you Alice! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I grinned up at her and pulled her into a hug.

She laughed at my display and pointed to the clock in the corner of my room. Only twenty minutes before I was supposed to meet Jacob!

"Oh God, I better get going! Thank you Alice! You know where they key is right? You can let yourself out?"

"Of course, it was no problem. You know I love playing Bella Barbie." She grinned up at me. "You better get going, I'll let myself out. Go!" She told me, while 'helping' me out the bedroom door.

I rushed out of the front door, grabbing my keys from the table as I went and picking up my white clutch. I unlocked the door to my Nissan, climbed in and shut the door. Turning the key in the ignition and sped off, glancing at the clock every so often. I was going to be so late!

- - - -

Just over fifteen minutes after the original time I had promised to meet Jacob, I arrived at the entrance to the restaurant we were supposed to be meeting at. The Wheatshief. I hadn't been there before but supposedly they served pretty good food. I opened the door and walked up to the host. He kept eyeing me up and it was a little unnerving.

"I have a reservation under Black" I told him sharply, trying to get him to pull his eyes away from my body.

"Ah, yes, the other member of the party is already here, please follow me." He led me to the corner booth, where Jacob was already waiting.

"Call me if there is _anything _you need," he whispered into my ear as he walked away, but I knew Jacob could hear it. He scoffed and rolled his eyes, before taking hold of my right hand. That's another reason I liked Jacob. He didn't get overly jealous if another guy flirted with me, I suppose he had confidence in me that I would never betray him.

"You're late," he pouted at me, "I wasn't sure if you were going to show up."

I scoffed at him. "Me standing _you _up? Why would I stand up my most favourite guy in the whole world, huh? I was a little late because Alice took a little longer than anticipated to fix me up."

"It was worth it." He said, taking my appearance in. "You look stunning tonight."

I blushed at his words and looked away from him. When I looked back up, he was grinning like a madman. I gave him a confused look.

"What do you look so happy about?" I asked him, my head tilted to one side.

"Oh nothing just excited about spending the night with my girl." Blushing again, I studied him for a second longer, but then I decided to just let it drop.

I ordered the lasagne and a glass of red wine, and Jacob ordered the same with a beer. I talked about my day, like how Emmett had stolen a customer's order for himself and eaten it while he thought no one was looking, how I had knocked the mailman over on my way home by falling into him , and Alice's torture/help.

Jacob in return told me about his day. How he and Leah, his workmate, had gotten into a fight about the most efficient way to fix Angela Webbers car, who he had ran into at the grocery store and why he had to go to Billy's. Turns out, he didn't have any decent clean shirts at our place, so he had to get dressed at his dad, Billy, house.

We had just finished dessert, I had gotten strawberry cheesecake and Jake had ordered Chocolate Forest Gateau, when Jake took hold of my hands and looked directly into my eyes.

They looked so intense, so full of love and passion, that I almost felt the need to look away.

"Isabella… I love you. So much. I want to spend the rest of my life with you." Oh God, please tell me he isn't going to do what I think he is going to do.

I started panicking and shaking when I saw him stand up and bring me up with him. Then, I almost passed out when he bent down on one knee.

He pulled a small blue box out of his jacket pocket and opened it up, revealing a beautiful ring encrusted with diamonds and emeralds.

Emeralds.

His beautiful green eyes flashed into my mind.

"Will you marry me?" Jacobs voice bought me back into the present.

When someone asks you to marry them, aren't you supposed to feel excruciatingly joyful? Don't girls usually cry out of happiness when they are proposed to? I didn't feel happy. I felt scared. And undecided. Definitely undecided.

Jacob was looking up at me now, his eyes wide in anticipation, waiting for my answer. And that is when I decided. A few people in the surrounding tables had turned around and were watching the scene, making little 'aww' noises.

Nobody loved me like he did. He was the only man that had ever loved me. Edward had said he did… but if you walk out on someone, you can't possibly love them, can you? He didn't love me. But Jacob did. Jacob would never leave me.

"Yes, I will marry you." I told him, determined in my decision.

Jacob stood up and wrapped his arms around me, and I did the same. He pulled back a little and crushed his lips to mine, kissing me, as we both understood was a thank you from him.

"I love you Bella", he said happily, grinning like a fool. For some reason, his happiness made me extremely depressed. Maybe it was because he was ecstatic about something that I was desperately scared of.

"Me too" I murmured, a tight feeling in my chest.

- - - -

_I don't really like the whole thing about them being engaged, but don't worry! Things are going to change pretty soon._

_Guess what? There will be an appearance from Edward next Chapter! Woot!_

_Sorry my chapters are a little short, don't worry, I'll hopefully make them longer from now on. Oh, and if I have any spelling mistakes, I apologise for that too!_

_Pendulum - Girl In The Fire_

_The Killers - Spaceman_

_Just Jack - Embers_

_Red Light Company - Arts & Crafts_

_Blink 182 - All The Small Things_

_You know you want to review!_

_-Ro x_


	3. Chapter 3

_I decided that I'd post this chapter today. I haven't really written any chapters after this since I'm posting each chapter as I finish, and this only took me slightly over an hour, so I thought, why not?_

_Here's Chapter three for you. It's kind of boring to be honest, but I wanted everything to be sort of monotonous and normal before the exciting stuff happens. _

_Edward's first appearance people!_

**Chapter Three**

I woke up in the morning with the same tight feeling still in my chest. I recalled the previous night and broke into a sweat. I was _engaged. _I turned on my side and looked to where my… _fiancé_ was sleeping. He looked so peaceful, a small smile playing on his lips. I sighed. I would do this for him. I would marry him.

I turned back round onto my other side and looked at my alarm clock. Nine fifteen. I remember telling Alice that I'd go shopping with her today. No doubt she's left about a hundred messages on my phone by now. I don't think that pixie even sleeps. I rolled out of bed and dressed in a jean skirt, a brown belt, a light brown spaghetti strap top and a plain white off the shoulder t-shirt. I wasn't usually into these types of clothes, but since I was spending the day with Alice, I wanted to keep on her good side.

I picked up my mobile, and of course, I had a few messages. _Twelve _messages. In the last twenty minutes. As well as three missed calls. Ugh.

I dialled her number and held the phone away from my head, anticipating what would happen.

"BELLLAAAA!" She screamed down the phone, and if I'd have kept the phone close to my ear, I wouldn't have been able to hear anything for the next three weeks. "Why haven't you been texting me back? Why didn't you call me? WHYYY?"

"Alice, Alice, calm down. Sorry, I overslept, I'm dressed and ready now though, so if you want to come pick me up-"

"Already on my way." I could almost hear here smirking.

I crept into my bedroom and saw Jacob's sleeping form. I quickly wrote a note and placed it on the bedside table next to his side of the bed. Kissing his cheek lightly, I exited the room and went downstairs. I picked up my set of house keys and purse. As soon as I got outside, right on time, Alice was pulling up in her yellow Porsche. She rolled down the window and shouted over to me to hurry up.

I hopped into the passenger side and smiled over at her.

She gasped. "Bella! You managed to dress yourself today. Looking good", she said, winking at me.

"Hello to you too." I glared at her through narrowed eyes.

Se smiled and laughed at me, knowing I was joking. She pulled out of the drive and started down the road. "Oh, by the way, I invited Rosalie, she's going to meet us in the parking lot."

I smiled at that, I was actually going to look forward to this. I hadn't done anything proper with Alice or Rosalie for a while now.

- - - -

Ten minutes later, we pulled up in the parking lot. I looked around for Rosalie's car. It wasn't very hard, as everything about her was ostentatious. Even her car. I waved her over and she strode over to where we were standing, leaving in her wake a group of men watching her, all of them open mouthed and drooling.

She reached us, and both Alice and I hugged her. I had missed this, us girls. Of course, we didn't hang around for long, as Alice had grabbed both of our arms and dragged us into the mall.

"Alice, Alice! Calm down! It's only just before ten. That means we've got at least seven good hours of shopping." I died a little inside telling her that. Seven hours shopping is one thing, but seven hours shopping with Alice…

"I know, and we don't want to waste any time! There's a limit to what I can do with you in two hours!" She told me, turning around. I saw the look in her eyes, the wild, crazy determination. This was not going to be a fun day for me.

- - - -

I was standing in a dressing booth, with about twelve dresses in my arms. In less than an hour, Alice had already had me trying on about seventeen shirts, three pairs of jeans, seven skirts, a few pairs of shorts and numerous pairs of underwear. I think I'm about ready to kill myself. Only six more hours of shopping.

"Bella, hurry up in there, Alice said she wanted us to visit a few other places before we carry on shopping!" Rosalie called out to me from outside the changing rooms.

Twenty minutes later, and twelve dresses tried on, I was standing outside a salon with Alice and Rosalie.

"Alice, why are we here? I thought we were only going to go shopping today. I don't need to get my hair cut." I told her indignantly, feeling slightly insulted. I had only got my hair cut a few months ago.

"Uh, we're _all _getting our hair cut. I need a new style"

"Wait, what? Alice, I don't want my hair cut. It's finally the length I want it", whined Rosalie. She looked upset, but something flashed in her eyes. She looked Alice straight in the eyes and said "I am not getting my hair cut" in an eerily calm, powerful voice, daring Alcie to argue with her.

Alice looked pretty scared. "Fine, fine, Rose, just me and Bella will get haircuts. _But_ we're not just getting trims, we're getting mani-pedi's!

Alice led Rosalie and myself into the salon. She whispered something over to the girl behind the counter, and they both glanced at me. What's that about? I started to feel slightly nervous. You never know what's going to happen when Alice has something planned.

The girl and Alice made their way over to where I was standing alone, as Rose was sitting reading a magazine near the window.

"Hello, my name is Kate, and I will be styling your hair today. Alice has already told me how you wanted it." I looked over to Alice, who had a slightly sheepish expression on her face. Damn Pixie!

I decided to play along. Alice wouldn't do anything too bad, would she? Anyway, I trusted her. Hair and clothes _was _her expertise.

"Um, okay." I said nervously

She led me over to a sink and washed my hair for me.

"Wait, Alice, I thought you said _you _were getting a haircut too?" I asked her.

She just grinned mischievously in response. Damnit! Fooled by the Pixie again!

Kate moved me to a chair in front of a mirror. Kate then pulled out a huge pair of scissors, the light glinting off of the metal. Oh God. What have I gotten myself into?

- - - -

"Done!" Kate exclaimed right in my ear.

Hesitantly, I opened my eyes. I had closed them as soon as I had seen the scissor. I really didn't want to see what had happened to all my beautiful hair.

I didn't look in the mirror. I couldn't bear to. I just looked straight over to Alice, who had the biggest shit eating grin on her face. That's a good sign, right?

Rose walked over from where she was sitting and noticed my hair. She, also grinned at me.

"Bella! You hair looks so gorgeous!"

"It… does?"

Rosalie rolled her eyes. "Have you even looked at it yet?" I shook my head. "Well, go on, look!"

I closed my eyes and slowly turned my head in the direction of the mirror. Again, hesitantly, I opened my eyes.

And was met with the reflection of a completely different person. This girl, her hair, looked _good. _She had shoulder length hair, with various messy layers. She had a fringe that hung slightly over one eye, and she had various different tones of brown in here hair.

It was _my _hair!

"Alice!" I gasped. "Wow… My hair looks great! You have such good taste!

She rolled her eyes. "Duh, Bella. I've had good taste since I was five years old." It was true. Mrs. Brandon, Alice's mother, had told me that when Alice was five years old, she was the girl that always had the best dressed Barbie, the girl that always picked her own clothes for the day, even before she could speak properly. It didn't surprise me.

"Oh yeah," I laughed, "I can't believe I almost forgot about that." Alice grinned up at me.

"Time for pedicures!"

- - - -

It was an hour later, and Rosalie, Alice and I had just finished getting our mani-pedi's. Alice was now dragging us around _more _clothes shops.

We soon decided to go and eat, since I'd barely eaten anything for breakfast. We reached a small café that was practically empty and grabbed a table near the middle. We sat down, placing our hundreds of shopping bags around us, and started talking. Of course, Alice had to tell us _all _about her last date with Jasper, which I had heard about four times now. Rose told us about how her three year old daughter, Danni, was doing, and then she proceeded to ask how Jacob was doing.

"Bella, how is Jacob? I haven't seen him around the restaurant for a while. You guys are still dating, right?"

I decided to tease her a bit. "No, we're not dating anymore." I put on a sad face and looked down at the table, biting my lip to keep me from laughing. When I looked up, I couldn't hold it in any longer. Their mouths were hanging open simultaneously, a look of disbelief on both of their faces. When I and laughed, their shocked expressions turned to one of confusion.

"We're not dating anymore. We're engaged." I smiled at them. Their faces stayed the same for a few moments longer before what I had said had sunk in. Then, they both cheered, squealed and jumped up to hug me. They were both grinning like mad, but I noticed that Alice's smile didn't quite reach her eyes. I didn't understand. Only yesterday she was asking me about when Jacob and I were going to tie the knot, yet she doesn't look very happy for me.

Soon, they were both asking me questions, like 'How did it happen?', 'Did you cry?' and 'Was the sex good that night?' Eventually, Alice changed the subject.

"Hey, Bella, d'you think you could get Jacob to pick you up? I wanted to drive over to see Jasper after this, and you know Rose won't have any room in her car, with all the clothes she bought today", Alice asked, grinning slyly in Rosalie's direction

"Hey! I resent that." Rose huffed and turned back to her drink.

"Yeah, sure, one sec." I fumbled around it my purse and found my phone. Dialling Jacob's number, I stood out of my seat and existed the café. Jacob picked up after two rings.

"Hey Bells!" He sounded so excited that I had called him, it almost made me laugh.

"Hey Jake, d'you think you could pick me up form the mall? Alice is going to see Jasper later and wont be able to drop me off."

"Of course I can! I'll be there in twenty minutes. Where are you?"

"We'll be outside the cafe next to the bookshop, okay?"

"Sure, see you then. Love you!" He hung up. I was glad he hadn't waited for me to say it back.

I wandered back to where Alice and Rose were just standing up, their food and drinks finished. I collected my few bags as well, which contained the clothes that Alice had forced me to buy.

We walked outside the café and stood there talking and people watching. Jake would be here in about five minutes, and Rose and Alice were waiting with me.

"Bella!" I heard a velvety voice call out. I didn't really recognise the voice, but it sounded slightly familiar… Instinctively, I looked around for the source of the voice, but couldn't see anyone looking in my direction. I heard the same voice call my name, but this time I could tell which direction it came from. I looked… and saw something that shocked me to the core.

"Who's he?" I heard Rosalie whisper, but I couldn't tear my eyes away.

Alice gasped. "That's Edward…"

- - - -

_Well! Edward has arrived :) Things are about to get good._

_I don't think I'll get Chapter four up today, since I'm out tonight. It will most likely be up tomorrow._

_Black Eyed Peas - Electric City_

_Brigade - Stunning_

_Linkin Park - Nobody's Listening_

_N-Dubz - Strong again_

_Pendulum - Propane Nightmares_

_My love only costs one review. Yay!_

_-Ro x_


	4. Chapter 4

_Helllloooo wonderful readers! =D _

_Chapter Four is up, you lucky people =P I'm sorry it's short, but I couldn't write any more since I'm going out in less than an hour!_

_Edward's going to seem a little OOC, mostly because he'll seem pretty stupid. Even though he is _supposed _to be smart._

_Oh, by the way, I don't think I'm going to have any 'baddies' in this story. I think Lauren, Jessica and Tanya are used way too much as evil characters. I think Edward will probably upset the story enough by himself._

**Chapter Four**

Alice gasped. "That's Edward…"

Edward…

Edward…

_My _Edward?

Edward Cullen?

I watched in a frozen state as the man who resembled a boy I once loved strode through the crowds of people, most of them parting for him, in our direction.

I couldn't think. Couldn't move.

He was walking faster and faster now, almost breaking into a run. He had a huge grin spread across his face and his eyes were alight with happiness. I'd never seen a man looking so handsome. His bronze hair was a little messy, pieces hanging in front of his eyes. Vivid green emerald orbs stared back into my own. His arms, what you could see, looked muscular, not over the top tough.

He was standing less than three feet away from me when he whispered my name again. "Bella…"

My mind wouldn't process what was happening. Who was this man? A man that looked eerily like my ex boyfriend…

Was he Edward? The guy that abandoned me four years ago without so much as a goodbye? Who just disappeared one day, out of my life, and I never saw again? What was he doing here after so long?

I opened my mouth to ask those very questions, but my mouth was so dry. I couldn't speak. I tried again, but just as I was going to speak, he cut me off.

"I know", he whispered, "I've missed you too. So much." What? Did he think I couldn't speak because I missed him? I _had_ missed him like hell, but I was so confused.

He closed the distance between us and pulled me into his embrace, wrapping his arms around my waist. He put one finger under my chin and tilted my head up, looking directly into my eyes. And crushed his lips to mine. What the _hell? _Now I was furious. I hadn't seen the man for years, and he just thinks that he can appear in my life and _kiss _me? I put both hands on his chest and tried to push him off me, but it didn't work. He just pulled me closer. I started pounding on his chest, but he ignored me, kissing me more urgently, trying to open my mouth with his own.

So I slapped him.

He pulled back in shock. Looking at me as if to say 'What the fuck?'

I backed away from him, for his own protection, and realised that Alice and Rosalie were both standing there, wide eyed and open mouthed.

And just to make things even worse, I could see Jacob walking over to us with a confused look on his face.

When Jacob reached our little group a few moments later, he looked over to Edward.

"Oh, Bella! This is that friend I was telling you about yesterday. You know, the one that I bumped into at the grocery store. He just moved back into town yesterday. Bella, meet Edward. Edward, Bella." Jacob gestured back and forth between us. I take it Jacob didn't see what Edward had done.

"I know. We've met." I told him through gritted teeth, my hand balled into fists at my sides.

Jacob cocked a eyebrow. "Really? Oh, that's cool then." Jacob wrapped his arm around my waist and kissed me. "Sorry for the late greeting", he told me, grinning down at me. He turned back to Edward, who looked murderous. His brow was creased and his eyes narrowed at Jacob. "Nice to see you again Edward, but me and Bella have got to-"

Jacob didn't get to finish, because Edward had already grabbed hold of the front of Jacob's shirt and his face was just inches from his.

"What the _fuck _do you think you were doing to _my girlfriend?_" Spat Edward, right in Jacob's face.

Jacob looked utterly shocked by Edward outburst, but then he, too, looked murderous. Jacob pushed Edward off of him and got into his face. "_Your _girlfriend? Is there something wrong with your head? I've been dating Bella for over two years now. What. The. Hell?"

Edward then looked over to me, looking very upset. I could seethe hurt in his sad green eyes. "Bella," he whispered, "is this true? Have you been cheating on me?"

"WHAT?" I screamed at him. I couldn't help it. He was accusing me of _cheating?_ You can't cheat on someone you're not seeing!

Jacob looked over at me then, looking furious and had a crazed look in his eyes. "You've been cheating on me Bella? With him? How long?"

"NO! No, Jake, I haven't been cheating on you. I would never!"

"Then what the fuck is he," he pointed to Edward, "on about?"

I sighed. "I used to date Edward." I watched as Jacob's eyes grew wide. "We dated in High school, but then before graduation, he left. So yes, we did date, but I haven't seen him for four years." I could tell that my words reassured Jake, and he noticeably relaxed. But Edward looked more furious than ever.

"We _used _to date? What are you on about Bella? We never broke up!" Edward yelled in my face.

"Technically, no, but you left, what did you want me to do? Just spend the rest of my life waiting for you?!" I was amazed by how angry I was. His shouting was fuelling my own.

"Yeah, actually, I did! I was coming back! You knew that!"

"I didn't know that! You left without a word!"

Edward's anger disappeared. He looked slightly confused, like he was thinking something over.

"Carlisle didn't talk to you about it?"

"About you leaving? No. I went to talk to Carlisle, but all he said was that you'd left, and you weren't coming back."

Edward looked pissed again. "Carlisle was supposed to tell you were I was going. He was supposed to tell you to wait for me!"

"You know that Carlisle hated me. He wanted you to date a rich, pretty and dumb girl, the kind f girl that he believed was 'worthy' of you. That girl wasn't me."

"You're right, You weren't that girl. You're not pretty. You're a beautiful, gorgeous, intelligent, amazing woman. I know you weren't rich, but that didn't matter to me. I don't care if Carlisle doesn't like you. He must be crazy not too, but that is his problem. I can't believe Carlisle would betray me like that…" He looked at the floor and whispered, "You were supposed to wait for me…"

"You wanted me to wait four years for you, while you went off and… I don't even know what you were doing! But it was your own choice. You left."

"I didn't have a choice, Bella! Please believe me. I didn't want to leave you, but I had no choice! It was Carlisle's fault. He sent me away. I guess it was important that I went. If I hadn't, we'd have all been living on the street. I did it for my parents, for us!"

"Edward," I looked up into his eyes, but quickly looked down again. "There is no us."

I can't be sure, but I could've sworn that he had tears in his eyes. "Bella…" he whispered, "remember what I said on your seventeenth birthday? I told you that I'd buy you a house when I had enough money. That we'd live together, get married-"

Jacob interrupted then, putting me behind him. "I don't care what happened in the past, Edward. I don't care that we are supposed to be friends. Stay away from me. Stay away from Bella. Don't try to talk to us. She's my fiancé. We're getting married." I watched as Edward's face contorted in pain. No matter how I hated him right now, for leaving me, all I wanted to do was get rid of the pain on his face. "Don't think you can just come and ruin our lives. Leave us alone."

With that, Jacob grabbed my hand and started to pull me in the opposite direction. I noticed that Rosalie and Alice were no longer standing with us. They had probably left before we had even started shouting.

Jacob was leading me through the crowds of people, but I couldn't help but look back at the man standing in the same spot that we had left him.

His face was twisted in pain. He stood in exactly the same position that he had been when I let Jacob drag me away. My eyes locked with his, but the amount of emotion in his eyes was too much. It hurt too much. I looked away.

And left Edward behind.

- - - -

_Ehh, it's starting to get a little better, right?_

_Since I managed to get this chapter in today, I think I'll have another up tomorrow. Yay!_

_I'm also going to start posting the first chapters of all the other stories I have written. Well, I've _only _got the first chapter written of the other stories, but it's better than nothing_

_Prodigy - World's on Fire_

_Friendly Fire - Jump in the Pool_

_Tokio Hotel - Ready, Set, Go_

_Lady Gaga - Paparazzi _

_Red Hot Chili Peppers - Scar Tissue_

_I don't think I got to remind you what to do!_

_-Ro x_


	5. Chapter 5

_Thank you for all your lovely reviews!_

_I love all of you! x_

_Don't worry, Jake wont be around for much longer… a few chapters at the most, although Bella and Jacob will still be 'technically' together. But like that's going to stop Edward, right?_

_I hate it when I read a story and have to wait weeks for just one update, so hopefully I'll update this story at the least every other day, or in some cases like today, _three _times a day._

**Chapter Five**

I was sitting on the couch in the living room, thinking.

It had been a few days since I had seen Edward. I just couldn't wrap my head around it. How could he just walk back into my life and pretend that the last four years didn't count? I had spent most of my time thinking over everything he had said.

"_I didn't have a choice Bella!"_

"_I didn't want to leave you."_

"_Carlisle's fault."_

Carlisle's fault? I didn't understand. I was Carlisle's fault that Edward had to leave for four years? What was Edward _doing _for four years?

I hadn't really been talking to Jake either. He'd pretty much been avoiding me, and rightfully so. He knew that I had things to think about, to sort out in my head, so he had spent more time at work.

Edward returning had really put my life into turmoil. It really made me look at what I had with Jacob. And my feelings for him. And my feeling for Edward. _Wait, what? _I really shouldn't be thinking about Edward that way. He'd already hurt me too much. My life was fine, acceptable, _normal, _before he came back.

Is there something wrong with him? He sounded delusional last time I saw him. Like he hadn't been living since he left. Like he had been asleep.

There had to be something wrong with him. Maybe he needed help. He sure didn't _sound _normal.

I fiddled with the engagement ring on my finger. It didn't feel right. It was too heavy, like the commitment and promise that the ring held was weighing it down. My feelings for Jake…

I wasn't sure. I had always believed that I loved Jake. He was like my sun. After the depression I was feeling when Edward abandoned me, Jake helped me live again. He mended my heart. He didn't make it whole, but good enough. Jacob made me happy. He gave me a normal life. The kind of life that everyone expects in life. And that was fine for me.

Edward…

I had met him when I was nine years old. Renee, my mother, had married her second husband, Phil. Phil and I… well, lets just say we didn't get on too well. Actually, we hated each other. He hated Renee having a child, he always thought that I was in the way, and I hated her spending all her time with Phil, constantly ignoring me. I had to look after myself. When I was nine years old, Renee had been married to Phil for just a few months. But I couldn't stand it any longer.

**Flashback**

"_Mom." I said to her._

"_In a minute, Isabella." Renee told me, without even looking away from Phil. She resumed her giggling as Phil continued to tickle her. I swear those two were more childish than I was._

"_Mom." I said, impatiently._

"_Go away Isabella. Your mom and I are a little busy at the moment." Ugh. It didn't surprise me. Phil was constantly trying to get rid of me. If I just up and left one day, he wouldn't care. In fact, he'd probably be pretty happy._

"_MOM!" I shouted, raising my voice to get her attention._

_She sighed and pulled away from Phil. Turning in my direction, she looked at me and raised one eyebrow, as if to say 'Go on then, hurry up'._

"_I want to live with Charlie." I hadn't seen Charlie since I was four, the day we left him._

_I could see Phil trying to hide a smile, not very successfully though._

"_You want to live with Charlie? Why?" Renee looked a little hurt, but I knew she'd get over it. Hell, she'd even thank me._

"_I haven't seen him for almost five years. And I thought I'd give you and Phil some space." I didn't have to tell her the full truth. It _was _partly true._

_- - - -_

_A few weeks later, and it was my first day of school in Forks. Charlie and I had gotten on pretty well. He was quiet, like me, and that's the way I liked it. _

_Charlie drove me to school the first day, as I was met with a lot of stares. I was always pretty shy, and people watching me made me nervous. I said goodbye to Charlie and walked to the office, collected my time table and went to my first lesson. Over the day, I made a few friends. Two girls named Jessica and Lauren invited me to sit with them, and little did I know that those two would still be my friends thirteen year in the future. I was walking out of my last lesson, when I tripped over the air, like I always did. Landing on my hands and knees, I started to pick myself up._

_That is, until a pale hand appeared in front of my face. I looked up and was met with the bright green eyes of a smiling boy around my age. I blushed instantly and placed my hand in his._

_He lifted me up and I brushed myself off. When I looked back up at him, he was looking away, a small shy smile on his face._

"_Hi," the boy said quietly, shyly, "I'm Edward."_

**End Flashback**

Ever since that first day of school, Edward and I were best friends. We had other friends, but we did everything together, just the two of us. That is, until a new family moved into Forks. Mary Alice Brandon and her little sister Cynthia started our school when Edward and I were twelve years old.

**Flashback**

_Edward and I were walking to school again. I didn't rely on Charlie to drive me anymore, I only lived a short distance from school. And walking with Edward was a lot more fun. We arrived at school, and I noticed a woman walking with two children, who both looked to be about ten years old. Edward and I said goodbye since we only had our last two lessons together, and I went to first lesson. English. _

_Sitting in the seat next to mine, I saw one of the new girls I had seen this morning. She was my age? She sure didn't look it._

_I sat down next to her and prepared to introduce myself._

"_BELLA!" The girl screeched in my ear. I instantly backed off, staring at her wide eyed and nervously._

"_Um… how do you know my name?" I asked the girl._

"_Oh, I know _everyone's _name! I asked the teacher if I could look at the register." Ah, that explained it. We had to get our photo's taken every two years, and the photo was printed with our names on the register. I always hated it. I could never take a decent photo. _

"_My name is Alice Brandon, and we're going to be best friends"_

**End Flashback**

I never doubted her for a moment.

She became the new addition to mine and Edward's little group. I had to say, I enjoyed having Alice hang around with us and Edward and I could still hang out on or own sometimes. It was nice to have a girl friend that I could invite for sleepovers and go shopping with (Even though it could almost be counted as torture with her).

Two years later, and things had started to change. We were all still best friends, but Alice didn't see us as much as she used to. She was constantly dating, going through boy after boy. Believe me, she wasn't a whore or anything. The most she did with these boys was hold hands or kiss them on the cheek. That was just her type of fun.

Edward and I had never dated. We were both only fourteen at the time, and I didn't see the point yet. I guess Edward felt the same. Also, I had a _teeny _crush on Edward, but I wasn't going to tell him that. Well, that's what I _thought._

**Flashback**

_Edward, Alice and I were on our way to Lauren's birthday party. She was turning fifteen tomorrow, so she invited all her friends round her house. She wasn't very good friends with Edward, but invited him for my sake, since I didn't know many of her own friends too well, except for Jessica._

_We had gotten to play truth or dare, like you do a most parties._

_Connor had already been dared to run outside in nothing but his underwear and when Jessica chose truth, she admitted for the first time that se had a crush on Mike. It was my turn now, and Alice was asking._

"_Bella, truth or dare?" The pixie asked._

"_Dare", I said, grinning like a fool, ready to show off. _

_She was smirking now, a mischievous glint in her eye._

"_Bella', she said, innocently, "I dare you to kiss Edward."_

_What? I couldn't do that, could I? You can't kiss your best friend? I looked up at her, pleading with my eyes, ready to beg. She cut me off before I could even start._

"_You have to do it Bella! It's a dare." Everyone else in the circle nodded in agreement._

_I sighed, got up onto my knees and crawled over to where Edward was sitting, wide eyed and looking slightly terrified._

_I decided to just get it over with quickly. This wasn't really how I wanted my first kiss to be, but oh well._

_I whispered a small 'sorry' before I gently pressed my lips to his. I was about to pull away when I felt his own lips moving under my own. I almost gasped out loud, but continued to kiss him back. It felt amazing. As I pulled back, I noticed everyone else staring at us, their mouths in little 'o' shapes._

_I blushed and sat back down. I looked over at Edward. He was sitting perfectly still, a grin spread on his face and his eyes unfocused._

**End Flashback**

After that fateful day, Edward and I got a lot closer with each other. More hugging, holding hands, spending time with each other. He didn't ask me to be his girlfriend. It just sort of happened. We got closer and closer, until one day, while we were watching a movie in his room, he told me that he loved me.

I, in turn, told him that I loved him too. Being with Edward was the happiest I had ever been. He was amazing. He took me on dates, we spent almost every night round each others house, and we both lost our virginity to each other. On my seventeenth birthday, he bought me a necklace. It wasn't anything fancy, just the way I liked it, but he was mad at himself. I didn't understand really. I loved the necklace, it was more expensive than anything I could afford. His family had little money. Actually, his family was extremely wealthy, but Carlisle had damaged his leg in a car accident and couldn't work. Anyway, Edward wanted to get me something special, something meaningful, but he didn't have the kind of money to do that.

He promised me that he'd make it up to me. That when we were older, after we had gotten married, he'd buy us a beautiful house. His promised always made me happy, reminding me that we had a wonderful future ahead of us.

I loved him with all my heart.

I still did.

- - - -

I was cooking dinner later on that day when I heard two car doors slam. Two? I knew Jake was coming home for dinner, but I didn't expect him to bring a friend. He never did tell me about that though. He'd just bring a buddy home and I'd have to make the food go round.

I sighed.

I heard the front door open and Jake called out to me "Bella…?" He sounded a little nervous.

I stopped preparing the food and took my apron off. I called out to Jake as I walked towards the hall. "What is it, Ja-?"

I stopped walking mid-step, and looked over to the guest that Jacob had invited round.

"Well, Bells." Jake took a deep breath. He motioned over at the man to his left. "Edward has a proposition for us."

- - - -

_Sorry for all the flashbacks! I just thought you might want a little insight into their past._

_Ha! At this rate, I might even have another chapter up before tomorrow. I highly doubt it, but you never know!_

_Blink 182 - What's My Age Again?_

_Sum 41 - Fat Lip_

_The Spill Canvas - Hush Hush_

_Foo Fighters - Learn to Fly_

_P!nk - Please Don't Leave me_

_You know what to do!_

_-Ro x_


	6. Chapter 6

_Sorry, I would've posted this yesterday, but I got watching Lenny Henry (=P) on Live at The Apollo, and then the silly Document Manager was down for practically the whole day. -huff- _

_I love all of your reviews! They sustain me!_

_Oh, btw, Aestheticvoyager, that Simpson's episode _was _pretty much where I got my inspiration from xD_

**Chapter Six**

"Well, Bells." Jake took a deep breath. He motioned over at the man to his left. "Edward has a proposition for us."

"What?" I laughed in disbelief.

"Edward wanted to make a deal with us." Jacob said, looking increasingly nervous.

"To be honest, I'm really confused, Jake. You were ready to kill his man a few days ago, and now you're openly letting him into our house and now want to make a _deal _with him?" I asked, still baffled.

"I know it sounds crazy, Bells, but you have to hear what he's offering first. It's insane."

"Your insane." I muttered. "Well, I suppose since you're both standing there and dinner is almost finished, you might as well come eat."

I purposefully avoided making any eye contact with Edward.

- - - -

I was just serving dinner. Jacob and Edward had made themselves pretty comfortable. I suppose I shouldn't expect different from Jacob. It _was _partly his house too. It was just Edward that was bugging me. Sitting there like he owned the place, his feet up on the table. I just wanted to punch him right in the mouth.

Jacob didn't seem bothered by his actions. Anyone else, and I guarantee you that he would have shouted at them for being so disrespectful, but _no, _not _Edward._ I suppose he was trying to get on Edward's good side. Maybe this deal was insane.

"Here." I said, basically chucking their in their faces. Even if I loved Edward, I still hated him for leaving. I sat down and started on my own meal.

We ate in mostly silence, just Jacob and Edward talking about meaningless things, like what happened in the news and who won which game. I didn't say a word.

A few minutes later, and we were all finished. I wasn't looking forward to the talk that was about to happen, so I decided to put it off a little longer. I started collecting the dirty plates, but when I reached for Edwards, he put his hand on my arm to stop me. I looked at him, well, more like glared at him, but he didn't remove his hand.

Instead, he moved his hand slowly down my arm, onto my wrist, and slowly moulded his hand around my own. My eyes snapped up to his. They were so _intense._

"Bella…" he whispered.

Whatever he was going to say next was cut off by Jacob's cough. We both looked over to where Jacob was sitting, glaring, his eyes in slits. Edward quickly let go of my hand and looked away.

"Well," Edward coughed, "we should really explain to Bella what we were talking about earlier."

Jacob immediately cheered up and sat up straighter. I resumed sitting in my chair.

"Yeah, _please _tell me what the hell you two are on about." I said sarcastically.

"As I was saying earlier, Edward wanted to make a deal with us."

"And what would this deal be?" I asked.

"Well… Edward is going to give us five million dollars." Jacob was grinning like a mad man now, practically buzzing with excitement. I was extremely sceptical.

"Edward doesn't _have _five million dollars, Jacob. His family aren't rich."

"I do, actually." Edward cut in. "That's pretty much what I've been doing over the last four years. But enough about that. Yes, I'm offering you two five million dollars."

"Okay, there _has _to be some kind of catch here." I said. Someone doesn't just give you five million.

Jacob paled a little, looking more nervous and uneasy than he has at any point today.

"Yes, there is." Edward said. I raised my eyebrow. I was tired of them fucking around with me. I just wanted to know what they wanted from me. I impatiently motioned with my hand for him to continue.

"Well, in exchange for the money…" Jacob paused, as if to think of the right words to explain with, "You have to live with Edward for a week."

I laughed. I actually laughed.

"You're fucking with me, right?" I couldn't stop laughing. It was so ludicrous, it shouldn't even be funny.

"No." Edward said, solemnly.

"You're saying… I have to spend the next seven days of my life with you, and I get five million dollars?"

"Exactly, Bells! Think of all the things we could do with that kind of money!" Jacob exclaimed.

"Why do you even _want _this Jacob? You want your fiancé to go of with another man, where _anything _can happen, where he can do _anything_, just for a little money?"

"Its not a _little _money, Bells! Five million! And not anything can happen. Edward already told me that he wouldn't try anything, so it doesn't matter. It wasn't like it was my idea anyway. Believe me, if Edward wasn't offering that kind of money, I would never want this, but _five million… _It's a lot to turn down."

"What would we even do with five million, Jake!?"

"We could do so much! Billy could _finally _get his operation, I could upgrade the garage and hire more workers-"

"I said _we, _Jake! Would I not be getting _anything _out of this?"

"Of course you would! Bells, we could use the money for our wedding, use it to buy an amazing house-"

"Okay, I've heard enough." Again, Edward's face was twisted in pain. "What's your decision? Yes or no?"

Edward was staring into my eyes now, his eyes pleading with me, as if he was begging me to make the decision. To spend the next week with him.

"Oh God, you mean I have to decide _now? _I don't know!" Oh God, what was I supposed to choose? Put up with the man I hate and love for the next week and gain five million dollars, or refuse, miss out on the chance to talk to Edward after all these years, lose five million and put up with Jacob's sulking for the next three years?

"I don't know. I just don't know. What the hell am I supposed to choose? I _don't. know!"_

"Think about it. We need that money. There is so much that we could do with it. Edward isn't going to try anything. It'll be basically like how you and Jasper hang out."

Jasper!

I grabbed me coat and sprinted towards the door. Edward grabbed my arm before I could get any further.

"Where are you going?" He looked thoroughly confused

"Give me a few hours, I'll be back soon!"

I rushed out of the door, not looking back once.

- - - -

"Jasper, what the hell should I do?"

I had driven out to Jasper's apartment, the restaurant being closed today. Jasper was probably my closest friend, and the only one I could trust to help me with a decision that was this big. I didn't really know Rosalie or Emmett well enough to expect them to help me with something so huge. This was something only people who are practically family could make. I couldn't even ask Alice. She'd be bias in this situation, as she had know Edward almost as well as I had, and she'd do anything to get us back in the same room together. No, I had to pick Jasper. He'd never met Edward, but he knew the story.

"I don't really know what to tell you, Bells." Jasper said, looking apologetic.

"No! Jasper, you have to help me! Do you really expect me to make this decision on my own? I'm really confused!" I got up from his sofa, grabbed his shoulders and started to shake him. "Help meeeee!"

Jasper placed his hand over mine, that were still on his shoulders. "Alright, alright, I'll help you think it through, just stop shaking me! I think I lost over half of my brain cells just now!" He removed my hand from his shoulder and sat me back down.

"Okay, lets go through the pros and cons of doing it. List the cons first." Jasper told me.

"Well… if I did it, I would have to put up with Edward for a week. I don't know how I'd manage that. I hate him."

"Do you really hate him, Bella?" Jasper looked like he already knew the answer. He knew I wasn't telling the complete truth.

"I do hate him. In a way… But of course I still love him too." I explained. Jasper nodded.

"Okay, pros?"

"Erm, well, of course, we get all of the money, and I guess talking to Edward would be a good thing. It would help us settle everything, and I could get closure." I hadn't ever gotten closure with Edward. It was something I desperately wanted, desperately needed.

"Looks like there are more pros then cons, Bella."

"I know." I whispered.

"Bella… could you really not regret this if you didn't take a chance? Wouldn't you hate yourself if you never found out what had happened all those years ago? Don't you want that closure, Bella? You need that closure."

And with that, I knew my answer.

"Thank you Jasper. Thank you so much." He grinned at me in response. I stood up and hugged him.

Jasper let go of me and started to push me towards the door. "Whatever you decide, I know it'll be the right thing. Now, go tell 'em!"

- - - -

I walked in the door, determined in my decision.

When I got into the living room, Jacob and Edward were still there, watching a baseball game on TV.

Their heads snapped up as soon as I cleared my throat.

"Bella, you're back!" Jacob exclaimed, seeming excited. I guess he thought I was going to do it.

"Yep. And I've decided."

"Well, Bella, your decision?" Edward demanded.

"I'll do it."

- - - -

_Crouton! Crouton!_

_Crunchy Friends in a liquid broth!_

_Anyway… Hope you liked it. Kind of getting into the story now. _

_Six chapter in just over two days. Woo!_

_Metro Station - Shake It_

_Beastie Boys - Sabotage_

_The Cab - Disturbia_

_Bloc Party - Helicopter _

_Eminem - We Made You_

_-Ro x_


	7. Chapter 7

_Chapter Seven is up! -Happy dance-_

_Thank you all for your reviews! They are abso-fucking-lutely amazing! _

_Always wanted to say that._

_Well, onto Chapter Seven!_

**Chapter Seven**

"I'll do it."

A huge grin spread across Edward's face and his eyes danced with happiness. He picked me up and twirled me around, forgetting himself for a moment. He snapped out of it after a second, put me own, stood to the side and coughed. I almost laughed at the look of embarrassment on his face.

Jacob looked almost as equally happy. I bet he was just excited about the money. I scoffed. Did he not even care about me and my wellbeing?

Better get this over with. "So, when do we leave?"

Edward's smile grew even more pronounced. "Now."

"Wait, what? I thought I'd get a few days notice! I haven't told Alice. Emmett and Rosalie wont know where I've gone. How will Jasper cope at the restaurant by himself? He can't cook all of the meals himself, and Emmett's not that great!" I was rambling now, but I couldn't help it. I had to a lot to prepare! "What about Alice? I've been neglecting her enough this week! I promised her that-" Edward shut me up by placing his finger on my lips.

"Bella," he said, calmly, "you can call them on the way. Just tell Alice you'll make it up to her. And _I'll _hire another chef for the restaurant. Okay? Relax." He ran his hand through his bronze hair and pulled out his phone. I ignored what he was saying while I turned to Jacob.

"Now? Do you expect me to leave now?"

"I know it not ideal, Bella, but it's worth it."

"Fucking worth it my ass." I mumbled. That's all he seemed to be saying today.

Edward walked back over to us, his phone called ended.

"Okay, I've made all the preparations I needed to. Are you ready?" Edward asked.

"What about clothes? I can't exactly wear the same clothes all week!" I shuddered at the very thought of wearing an outfit more than twice in a row Great. Look what else Alice has drilled into my head!

"Don't worry, I have all of that sorted out."

"What about hairbrushes. Toothbrushes? Make-up? Shampoo, Conditioner? All those kind of essential things?" I was whining now.

Edward laughed at me. "Bella, Bella, calm down. I said I had everything under control. Don't worry. I have everything sorted."

I sighed. "Alright."

"Now, should we go?" Edward seemed pretty jubilant now.

"Yeah, give me and Jake a moment." Edward pulled a face, and disappeared out the front door. I turned back to Jacob.

"How will you cope at the garage? You always have to moan to me about Leah every day." I was joking with him now.

"I guess I'll just have to survive", he said dramatically, placing the back of his hand on his forehead.

He suddenly got very solemn. "I'm going to miss you, Bells."

"I know. I'll miss you too." I didn't tell him how _much _I'd miss him. I'm sure you are supposed to miss your fiancé more than I was going to miss him. Edward walked back through the door then, and strolled up to us.

"Bella, I have to ask that you leave your engagement ring behind." Edward told me. I stared at him in disbelief. Leave my ring? "Oh um, you know, uh… Oh! So you don't lose it. Yeah, I don't want to lose it." I wasn't convinced. It seemed like he was lying. But I did as he asked, and took off the ring. I then turned to Jacob and placed the ring in his hand, closing his finger over it for him. He looked a little upset that I had.

"Is that everything?" I asked Edward.

"Yes. Lets get going."

I looked up at Jake for what would be the last time in seven days. I tilted my head up to kiss him chastely.

I had barely touched my lips with Jacob's when I felt Edward's arm tugging on mine, pulling me out of the door. Edwards' mouth was set in a tight line and he was looking forward.

"Bye Jake!" I waved to him, and he waved back, his mouth turned down.

Only seven days.

- - - -

Edward had driven us in his Volvo to the airport. Were we going somewhere? I hadn't asked him, but I assumed that we'd be staying in Forks as Jacob had told me he had moved back.

"Edward, why are we at the airport?" I was curious now.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you. I've still got my place in Chicago, and since I prefer it to my place in Forks, I thought we'd go there for a few days." He looked over and smiled at me. I just shrugged my shoulders in response. I still wasn't sure about all of this. I hadn't seen him for four years and suddenly we're acting all chummy towards each other. I just decided to go with the flow.

Edward parked the Volvo far away from all he other cars, completely out of the parking lot. From what it looked like, Edward was practically parking on the runway.

"Edward!" I hissed. "You can't park here."

Again, he chuckled at me. "Oh, dear Bella, I can." And with that, he open he door and climbed out. I reached for my on door, but before I could grasp the handle, the door was opened for me. I stood up and muttered a thanks to Edward. So, he was still as gentlemanly as he was all those years ago?

He immediately grabbed my hand. Like all that time didn't matter. Well, it did to me. I pulled me hand out of his grasp and folded my arms.

He looked pretty hurt by my actions, but he'd live. His fault for being delusional.

Instead, I followed him as he led me round the building, and I saw our destination.

A helicopter.

A freakin'_ helicopter!_

I squealed.

Edward laughed at my little display.

"As you can see, we're taking a helicopter, if you don't mind?" Don't mind? _Don't mind?_ I'd never been in a helicopter before, but I'd always wanted to. Man, more than wanted. I'd _dreamed _about going in a helicopter. I always used to tell Edward back at school-

"Bella, you okay? You sort of drifted off…" Edward was looking at me now, waving a hand in front of my face, the worry clear on his face. I noticed that we were still standing away from the helicopter, so I shook my head to get rid of my last though and grabbed his arm, dragging him towards our ride.

Again, Edward laughed "Eager, much?"

"Yeah. I'd always wanted to ride in a helicopter. Ever since Charlie told me about how he took lessons, and how amazing it was." I explained

"I know. I remember." He told me softly.

My eyes met his. I don't know how long we stood there, but eventually a man outside he helicopter called Edward over.

We both looked away at the same time, and I blushed. I noticed Edward's cheeks colour slightly too.

"C'mon, Bella, we better get going."

He didn't look at me after that.

- - - -

We had just taken off, and I was so excited that I was practically bouncing in my seat. Uh. I should just dye my hair and call myself Alice.

I was looking outside the window, into the night sky. It was getting late, almost half past nine. I could see all of the twinkling lights from cities we passed. It was beautiful.

Edward was just sitting there, relaxed. Like he had done this a thousand times. Wait, maybe he had? I know that he has money. I don't understand how someone could make _that _kind of money in four years though. I decided to ask him.

"Edward?"

"Hmm?" He responded. He had various documents splayed all over his lap. Guess he was busy.

"How come you have so much money?" He froze for a second after I asked him, but then relaxed.

"Oh, you know, stuff. Working." Avoiding the question.

"Okay then, what did you work as?"

He sighed. "Bella, I don't really want to talk about this at the moment." I narrowed my eyes at him, but he ignored me.

We sat in silence for a few minutes, but then I remembered something I was supposed to do. "Edward, can I borrow your phone?"

He looked a little startled for a second, so I reminded him of what we had talked about earlier. "You know, so I can call my friends?"

"Oh, yeah, sure." He handed me his phone. Of course, it had to be one of the latest models, costing a ridiculous amount.

First, I dialled Rosalie's and Emmett's home phone number.

"Hello?" Rosalie answered.

"Hey Rose, it's Bella."

"Bella? Oh right, sorry, I just didn't recognise the number."

"Yeah, I'm using another phone."

"Yeah? Okay, well, what can I do for you?"

"Erm, well, Rose, I'm going away for a week, don't worry, I'm going to sort it all out with Jasper. I was just wondering if you'd ask Emmett if he could help Jasper out a little in the kitchen?" I didn't really want to tell her what I would be up to for the next week, and I knew she wouldn't pry. That's just how Rosalie was.

"Bella, you know Emmett wont be able to cover your entire shift! It takes him almost twice as long to make dishes then it takes you."

"It's fine, Jasper is getting another chef while I'm away, I just wandered if Emmett could help if this guy isn't too great."

"Okay, that's fine Bella. I'll tell him. Have fun on your… vacation?"

"Yeah, thanks, I will. Bye." I ended the call. Onto phone call number two…

- - - -

I had just persuaded Jasper to give me the week off, and to take on another chef for that week. He didn't seem to happy about it, but he'd get over it. He, unlike Rosalie, wanted to know what I was doing. After a lot of arguing and bargaining, I promised that I would tell him what I was doing when I actually got back.

I then proceeded to call my parents, telling them I was going on vacation for a week with a friend from work. What they don't know wont hurt them.

Now it was time to make my last call.

Alice.

I had been dreading this. I knew she wouldn't give up so easily, and if she found out what I was really doing, then… Actually, I don't know how she would react. Shout at me for talking to him after all these years and practically selling myself, or cheer that I had found him again?

Uh. My head hurts.

Dialling Alice's number, I held the phone away from my head, the safety precaution that I always take when phoning Alice.

She answered on the first ring. "Hello?" She said in a normal, pleasant tone. I was confused, she _always _screams 'Bella' when she answers.

"Hey Alice."

"Who is this?" Oh, that's right. This wasn't my phone.

"Its… Bella"

"BELLLAAAA!" Yup, now I was glad the phone was at least a foot away from my ear.

"Hey Alice…"

"Oh my God, Bella, what's up? How are you? We still getting coffee tomorrow? Please tell me your not cancelling on me! Bellaaaa!" When she took a breath, I took that as my turn to talk.

"Alice, Alice, chill. I'm so sorry Alice. I've got to cancel on tomorrow. I'm kind of… going away for a week."

"Going away? Where?"

"Uh, Chicago?"

"Why? On your own?"

"You know… just to get away. And no, not on my own. I have a… _friend_ who is accompanying me."

"Which friend? Bella?"

Edward placed his hand on my arm at that point. "Bella, can I… can I talk to Alice?" He sounded so unsure. Well, he should. Alice hadn't seen him for the same amount of time I had. He was looking at me now, pleading with his eyes.

I sighed. "Alice… My _friend _wants to talk to you." I didn't wait for her to answer before placing the open phone in Edward's hand.

I watched as Edward took a deep breathe before holding the phone to his ear.

"Hi Alice…" I heard a sharp intake of breath on the other end.

Then shouting. _Lots _of shouting.

- - - -

By _the_ time Edward closed his phone, he looked a sickly shade of white. Ha. Serves him right.

I smirked at him. "So, how'd it go?"

He then turned to me, eyes still wide and panicky, before closing his eyes, slowly exhaling and pinching the bridge of his nose. "Better then I expected."

- - - -

_I should really start writing up some of the other ideas I have for different stories soon… Ah well, I'll get round to it eventually._

_Oh, btw, I have _loads _of exams at the moment, so casn't write as much. But don't worry. I'm going to upload one chapter a day, around the same time. _

_I had the first half of my art exam today. Its weird how I didn't use paint, but I seem to be covered in it. Eh. Blame it on Dom and Cam._

_The All-American Rejects - Gives You Hell_

_Hadouken! - That Boy That Girl_

_Just Jack - Stars in Their Eyes_

_Green Day - Basket Case_

_The Enemy - Had Enough_

_-Ro x_


	8. Chapter 8

_Sorry, I got a little writers block on this chapter. May not be very good. Also, I meant to post this yesterday, but because of my damn art exam, then followed by a trip to the hospital, I'm a little late getting this up! Forgive me! I beg of you!_

'_Travel the world and the seven seas… I am watching you through a camera!' Not literally. Please don't report me. =P _

_I can't believe how many reviews I'm getting. _

_I love all my reviewers, regular and new alike! Thank you so much!_

**Chapter Eight**

We arrived in Chicago.

It had been a long ride, and honestly, I was slightly uncomfortable. Edward and I were squashed in the seats behind the pilot, and although I tried to sleep, I was very aware that Edward was sitting next to me. I had managed a few hours though, not that I was tired in the first place.

We were just about to land now.

And that's when I noticed something. We were landing at an airport…

"You have a _helipad _on your _house?_"

My exclamation must have startled Edward, as he suddenly shot up and looked around. When he processed what had said, he grinned crookedly at me and answered.

"Of course, why wouldn't I?" Like it was the most normal thing in the world.

Stupid rich boy.

I guess that's what money does to you.

- - - -

When we had landed, Edward helped me out of the helicopter. I took his hand he was holding out to me, but as soon as I was out, I let go. It felt oddly nice, but I didn't want to dwell on those kind of thoughts. I have Jake.

He led me around the helicopter to a set of stairs, descending into his house, I guess. He held the door open and I started the down stairs. Even the freaking _stairs _looked like they belonged in a house owned by the Queen of England.

As I reached the bottom of the stairs, he grabbed my arm and led me down _another _set of stairs. Three flights later, and we were on the ground floor. I turned around, and gasped.

His house, sorry, mansion, was _amazing._

We were standing right near the entrance, which meant that I had a good view of everything. It was nothing like I imagined.

It looked so modern! Every wall was covered in windows, making the walls look like they were made out of glass. The furniture was up to date and elegant, with browns, creams and whites.

Everything was so spacious and light, definitely not how I had expected Edward's apartment. I actually expected lots of metal and chrome, and the rooms to be extremely cluttered.

Edward noticed my astonishment and decided to explain the décor.

"Esme designed it for me. I didn't really have any ideas, so she decided to take it upon herself. I wasn't so sure about it at first, but it's definitely grown on me." I nodded.

His mention of Esme upset me a little. I loved Esme. She was like my second mother. Well, actually, she was like my first _real _mother. I wouldn't really count Renee.

As Edward gave me the grand tour, I got thinking. This was the first time in four years that I'd properly spoken to him, yet, I felt more comfortable than I ever would have imagined. He had broke my heart, but… I couldn't bring myself seem to _care. _I'd missed him too much to care at the moment.I couldn't even understand my own thoughts. His presence was making me so _confused! _Ugh, _he _was making me confused. _Damn him!_

Since it was early morning, Edward proposed that we had breakfast and catch up on the sleep we missed tonight.

We were sitting in Edward's kitchen, and I was glad to see that at least _this _part of his house was a little like how I imagined.

It was very sleek and up-to-date. The counters were a black marble, with chrome appliances and a black glass dining table in the corner.

Honestly, I was expecting to see lots of butlers and maids running around.

I was extremely glad that this was _not _the case.

Breakfast was quite ordinary. He sat me in one of the chairs in front of the table and opened a cupboard to his left. He pulled out two beautiful bowls, which I could have sworn were made of china. Even the _spoons _had intricate patterns running up them.

If I was expecting some kind of rare fruit or something like that, I was thoroughly mistaken.

Lucky Charms.

_That's _what we ate for breakfast.

I actually laughed when he set the box down on the table. He grinned down at me too, knowing what I was thinking.

"Well, I know Lucky Charms are you favourite."

I gasped. "You remember that?"

His eyes looked sad. "Of course I do. I remember everything about you." I was a little speechless by his confession. He looked away from me after that, sitting down opposite me and focusing on his breakfast. We mostly ate in silence, but near the end, a smile spread across Edward's face and he seemed to perk up a little.

"Well, Bella, as its your first day here, we're going to go to the beach." He was grinning like a fool now, and I could tell him was extremely excited to go. I hadn't honestly been to a beach in a few years, so I agreed straight away.

But then I remembered something.

"Edward! How am I supposed to go swimming without a swimsuit. Wait! I don't even have any clothes with me. Didn't you say you were going to handle it?" I was getting a little panicky. Alice's worst nightmare was about to come true. Wearing the same outfit…. _twice!_

"Chillax." He told me in a calm tone. _Chillax?_

"Edward…" My brows were pulled together. "Who uses the word 'chillax'?"

I watched as his face flooded with embarrassment, his cheeks tinting a little pink. I laughed a little under my breath.

"What I meant, was that I have everything sorted. Remember I made that phone call? I got a few of my guys to buy you a whole new wardrobe. And if there are some things you don't like, please tell me, and I'll replace them with whatever you want." I couldn't believe it.

"A whole _wardrobe? _For _me?_" He had bought me hundreds of items of clothing. Free of charge. How much would that cost him?

"Yes, Bella. I know you don't like getting given thing, but it's not like I don't have the money. And I _want _to spoil you." He was right. He was rich, I mean, he'd just paid millions to spend time with me. "Please Bella, let me buy you things… while you're still here." Edward winced slightly when he spoke the last part of the sentence. My chest tighten a little too.

I sighed. He definitely had enough money to be throwing it around like he was. And I guess, it was his time, so I should let him do what he wants.

"Fine. Whatever." His eyes lit up as I said that, probably because I never allowed him to buy me things before. "But if we're going to the beach, I'm going to need a swimsuit."

"That's part of the wardrobe. Wait here, I'll go get you some clothes." I watched him as he practically _ran _up the stairs. Only minutes later, he handed me a few items of clothing and pointed out a bathroom that I could change in.

I closed the bathroom door, once again getting the shock of how large the room was and how sterile everything was. Everything was so _white._

I stopped my gawking and started to unchanged, taking notice of what I was supposed to be wearing to the beach. He had gotten me a beautiful green sundress to wear. I moved it out of the way to see what he had picked out for me as a swimsuit.

_Oh my… that motherfu-_

I groaned and look once again at the swimsuit. Or should I say lack of. And should I say bikini. In my hand was a navy blue bikini. An extremely skimpy bikini. I sighed to myself. At least it wasn't a thong. _Almost, though, _a voice in my head said.

I'd suck it up. I haven't seen Edward for so long, and he'd just bought me some really nice things, so I'd deal with it.

- - - -

Edward pulled up in a car park just outside of the beach. Once again, Edward held my door open for me. At least he hasn't lost his gentlemanly ways. We towed our bags and items behind us and headed past the stone wall and onto the beach. The weather was pretty mild but the sun was shining bright overhead. Only a couple of white fluffy clouds were scattered across the sky.

"It's a beautiful day." Edward commented.

"Yeah, it is actually. Although I'm probably going to get sunburnt." I sulked. I don't tan. It didn't seem to be in my nature too. I'd probably tan a little at first, but mostly, I'd just burn. Edward was lucky. _He _tanned. I sulked some more.

He smiled and shook his head. "Bella, I didn't come to the beach unprepared. I have sun block." He pulled a small bottle out of his bag and waved it in my face. He then proceeded to drag me over to a spot on the beach that was pretty deserted. I splayed the towel over the sand and dumped all the equipment we had with us onto the towels and sat down. Edward immediately joined me.

He laid down and propped himself up on one elbow, facing me, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Why Bella, you can't possibly swim in that dress. I think you should take it off." Edward said, with a slight smirk on his face. I so wanted to punch him in the face.

I scowled at him, and his smirk grew bigger. "Fine." I mumbled, and stood up. I turned my back on Edward and lifted the sundress over my head.

I could feel myself blushing, feeling his eyes boring into me, even though I hadn't even turned around yet. When I did turn around, I couldn't look at him as I was so embarrassed. When I finally gained enough courage, I looked over at him.

He was sitting there, looking directly at me, his eyes half closed lazily and his mouth parted slightly. I could hear his breathing, deep and laboured.

"Edward…?" I asked tentatively.

His eyes immediately shot open and he blinked a couple of times, closing his mouth. He shifted a little on the blanket and cleared his throat.

"Oh, sorry, Bella." Edward looked up at me sheepishly. He then stood up to take his shirt off, and I think I might have drooled a little. I had seen his chest before, but it looked a lot more defined now. I sat back down as he removed his shorts to reveal his trunks, which were a deep green.

He sat down next to me on the towel and I reached out to grab the sun block, squeezing some of the cream into my hand and spreading it on my skin. I set it down next to me to finish my legs, and realised that I had yet to do my back. I reached out for the sun block again, but a hand circled my wrist, stopping my movements and grabbed the bottle in his other hand. Edward let go of my wrist and kneeled behind me, moving my hair over my shoulder and dragging his fingertips across my back, making my skin tingle in their wake. Edward started spreading the cream on my back lightly, is fingertips ghosting my back. He pressed them slightly harder, still softly though. I couldn't help but let out a soft moan at the feeling. A strangled noise came from Edward, and his hands suddenly got rougher and more desperate, pushing into my skin hard, kneading my back. I felt him shift closer to me, almost flush against my back, and my skin lit on fire. My breathing got a little deeper as I was starting to feel slightly aroused. Edward leaned forward, and I could hear him panting in my ear, quick and fast. I made the mistake of shifting my body back slightly, towards him, when I felt something hard come in contact with my lower back. I immediately snapped out of my daze and jumped up.

I turned back to Edward, a little hesitantly, and saw how beautiful he looked. His face was slightly flushed, is eyes closed and his breathing still fast. Not wanting to hang around and face another awkward situation, I headed straight to the sea.

I waded in about waist deep and stood there, thinking how nice it felt to be in water again. I hadn't visited a beach or swam for years, not since Edward left. Jasper thought it was boring, Alice refused to swim because se didn't want to get chlorine in her hair, and Jacob didn't know how. I walked in a little deeper, until the water was up to my ribs. I stared up at the now clear blue sky and thought about how Edward had come back into my life. He had hurt me… but I still wanted him and I to be friends. I couldn't stand him disappearing from my life once again.

I felt a presence behind me. I knew who it was, so I didn't turn around.

"Bella…" He breathed in my ear.

"Yes?" I whispered.

"Bella… I…I…" He sighed in frustration and ran a hand over his face. "Nothing."

I turned around to look at him questioningly, but it didn't look like he was going to continue, so I decided to make light of the situation. I stood back a bit and splashed him with water. He looked startled for a second and looked at me with wide eyes. Suddenly, his eyes narrowed and an evil grin spread on his face. _Uh oh…_

"Edward… you know you don't want to do that…" But I had barely got my sentence out before Edward had grabbed me around my waist and hoisted me over his shoulder. I kicked and punched him as much as I could, but he soon dropped me back into the water. I resurfaced, gasping for breath, as my eyes locked with his.

"You're going down, Cullen."

- - - -

A few hours later and we were sitting around Edward's dining table, eating dinner. We had grabbed a takeaway on the way home since neither of us could be bothered to cook. It was quite quiet, except occasionally Edward would ask me random questions like 'Is chocolate still your favourite flavour ice-cream?' and 'Do you still like to write?'

Between questions. I got thinking. Why was I here? I mean, I knew for some reason Edward wanted me here, but I didn't understand _why. _If he had any feelings for me, wouldn't he have come back earlier? Or never have left at all?

"Edward." My tone must have startled him, as he immediately looked up at me and set his food down.

"Edward, why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?" He asked curiously, cocking his had to one side.

"Why… why am I here? Now? After four years?" I hoped he couldn't hear the hysteria in my voice.

He sighed and returned to looking at his food. "Bella… I never _wanted _to leave. Honestly. Never wanted to leave you. But I had to. Four years later, and I could finally leave. And I came looking for you. Because when I got back, the first thing I wanted to see… was you."

"Edward, how could you think you could walk back into my life four years later without so much as a 'goodbye'? Why are you doing this?!" I could hear my voice breaking and becoming louder. I was almost shouting at him. Sobs were threatening to escape my lips.

"Because… I couldn't be without you any longer. I want you. I need you." He closed his eyes for a second, and then opened them again a little.

"Bella. I love you. I still love you. I'll always love you."

- - - -

_Heh. I read a one-shot with a third person point of view, and throughout the story I couldn't help but put 'she' every time I meant to put 'I' and 'her' when I meant 'me'. It was damn frustrating._

_Sooo sorry for posting it this late. Will hopefully have another chapter up tomorrow, but I apologise if I can't get one up Friday or Saturday, as I'll be out for most of both days. Buuut if I push myself, I may get a small chapter up Friday._

_Killers - When You Were Young_

_N-Dubz - Number 1_

_Blur - Coffee And TV_

_Dizzie Rascal - Bonkers_

_Snow Patrol - Take Back The City_

_-Ro x_


	9. Chapter 9

_Chapter nine! Yay! _

_Okay, I'm not apologise even though I _am _incredibly sorry, because I'm sure none of you want to hear it. I hate myself for not updating sooner, and I have so many excuses, but instead of boring you with them, I'm just going to get on with the chapter you've been waiting for! _

_I finished all my GCSE's and Coursework, so that means in a couple of days I finish for the summer and I have all my time for you guys! (: Well, excluding weekends, most nights and a lot of time during the day… so… not that much actually._

_I'll just make time!_

_Here you go, Chapter Nine!_

**Chapter Nine**

"Because… I couldn't be without you any longer. I want you. I need you." He closed his eyes for a second, and then opened them again a little.

"Bella. I love you. I still love you. I'll always love you."

_Bella. I love you._

_I love you._

_I love you?_

I couldn't comprehend those words.

My brain wouldn't comprehend those words.

I processed them for a few seconds, staring blankly at Edward's face.

And suddenly, as I understood hat he was telling me, I felt… _happy. _Like I wanted him to love me. My heart swelled. I wanted to relish in the light feeling that knowing that he loved me gave me. I wanted to smile up at him, kiss him and tell him that I still loved him too, that Jacob didn't mean anything.

But as quick as the happiness came, anger replaced it.

"How can you say that!? You can't just come back after four years and tell me you love me! You can't do that!"

"Bella…"

"No! Don't Bella me! You can't do this to me!

"Anyway, what do you mean that you can't be without me any longer? Did you want something to happen? Did you want me to be all happy that your back, forget the last four years and stay with you? I have Jacob! I have a fiancé!"

Edwards face was downcast, a look of pain across his features.

"I don't know what I expected to happen… I just needed you."

I got up silently from the table and headed towards the door. As I reached the open doorway, I turned around.

"Thank you for dinner, Edward." And I walked out of the room.

- - - -

A few hours later, after a long shower and the essentials, I was laying on top of the sheets on 'my' bed. Well, technically it was one of Edward's guest beds, but I was using it for my stay here over the next few days.

I had to process what was going on.

Edward's declaration made my heart swell. He still loved me. But I couldn't be with him… could I? No! I shouldn't be thinking like this, but can you blame me? I couldn't? No? Yes? GAH! I hate my thoughts.

I just… don't know. Even after only seeing him for two days, I felt like I was ready to throw out everything and just be with him. It could just be because I missed him.

Yeah, I can tell myself that.

Sunlight streamed through the gap in the curtain, and I lifted my head, a little disorientated. I realised a few seconds later that I must have fallen asleep over the covers and still fully clothed I rubbed my eyes a little to focus them and had to cover my mouth with my hand to stop myself from screaming.

Edward was sitting at the end of my bed, looking off into the distance, a peaceful look on his face. His palm was resting lightly on my ankle. When he noticed that I was awake, he smiled nervously and looked slightly sheepish.

"Edward. What are you doing in here?" I breathed, a hand now placed over my chest in an attempt to slow my pacing heart down.

"Bella… look, I really wanted to apologise for yesterday. It doesn't matter. I don't mind if that's not what you want. But please, we can still be friends, right?" He pleaded. The smile seemed a little more forced by the end of his sentence.

I sighed a little and then nodded my head. I didn't really know what I wanted at that moment, but being friends would be best for us.

"Yeah. I think that would be best."

Edward nodded in agreement with me and stood up off my bed. He turned towards the door, but then quickly spun back around.

"Hey, you better get dressed soon. We've got a busy day. I had to change our plans, because… uh… my original plans weren't so… safe for friends." My eyes widened a little. He had planned more… _intimate_ stuff for us?

"Oh, and also, if you want to change, the clothes are through that door there." He pointed to the first door next in a row of three, the third of which was the entrance from the hall. Edward left the room with a wink and I stood up and stretched a little. I approached the first door, closed my eyes and slowly opened it, scared to what I might find in there. If there was only a wardrobe worth of clothes in there, there wouldn't be a door, right? Oh God, it must be absolutely _full _of items of clothing. My eyes fluttered open and I saw the contents of the rooms. It was _awful. _Clothes lined every wall. Dresses, skirts, jeans, t shirts, tops, jackets, cardigans, leggings in every colour. Shoes, countless amounts of them, lay under the clothes racks. Shelves and shelves of accessories. Handbags, sunglasses and hats. So many things crammed into so little space. I didn't know if I liked it very much.

I searched through the clothes, and quickly decided that none of the things were _me. _I didn't understand. Edward knew what I liked. Well, maybe he thought I had changed my taste after all these years. I kept looking, and in one of the room, there was a small cupboard on the floor, about half my size. I opened it and sucked in a breath at what I found in there. A black, tight fitting turtle necked jumper. Underneath it lay a pair of converses. In the cupboard door, there was a chap stick, two lip glosses and a hairbrush. In the top shelf; a couple of tank tops, a blue shirt with a butterfly on it two skirts in brown and black, a pair of jeans. And a single, dark blue thong.

All the things in that cupboard… they were all the things that I had ever left round Edward's house.

I couldn't believe it. He kept all of my stuff. Everything.

I couldn't help it, but I felt tears in my eyes. I clung onto the wall and let them run down my face silently. I don't know what it was about it, but it just made me feel so… _special._ Special, because he had saved everything, kept all the stuff that I had forgotten. One of the tank tops was even from when I was fifteen years old. Over six years.

I grabbed the black turtle neck and crossed my fingers and hoped that I hadn't got much bigger than I was when I was seventeen. I also grabbed my jeans from the cupboard. Then, I picked out a pair of underwear, socks, bra and ballet flats that he had bought for me and carried them all out of the room.

As I exited the walk in wardrobe, I got curious of what the second door contained. An en suit, maybe? I opened the second door, and my assumptions were correct. An en suit. And not just a normal en suit. This bathroom was massive. Were all his rooms in this house just over the top luxurious? Even though it was beautiful, it wasn't something that I would choose to live in. No, this was _not _the house of my dreams.

I dumped the assortment of clothes on the bathroom floor, and after a quick shower and brushing my teeth, I got dressed, but just as I was heading to the door, I noticed yet another door on the opposite side. I took a quick peek in there, and knew I shouldn't have looked.

Inside, was Edward's bedroom. I knew that because the clothes he had worn yesterday were strewn across the floor. He was never one to fold clothes. His room didn't have much more personality then mine, minus the colours. All furniture in his room seemed to be organic. A gold carpet, dark grey walls, almost black in colour, with lots of picture's on the wall of landscaping and objects. I saw that he still loved his music, and his collection had noticeably grown.

But there, on his bedside table, there was no lamp, but photo frame with gold edging. And in that frame, was a picture of me. I turned out of the room and fled down the stairs.

Edward was standing in front of the stove, flipping pancakes. My shoes tapped against the wooden floorboards on the kitchen floor, announcing my arrival. Edward looked up and the sound and flashed me a smile. He smile then dropped as his eyes drifted down my body, seeing the clothes I had chosen to wear. They glazed over for a second. He shook his head slightly.

He smiled peacefully. "I remember the last time you wore that. You look even more beautiful now." I blushed at his comment and dropped my eyes.

Edward tilted his head towards the pancakes. "Chocolate chip is still your favourite, right?" He asked. I blinked a few times, surprised that he managed to remember that. Smiling, I nodded viciously.

He chucked at that and continued on with breakfast. I sat on the barstool positioned next to the island counter and waited patiently until Edward served our breakfast. He placed my plate in front of me, the presentation of the three pancakes on my plate being perfect, and thanked him.

As I sat eating breakfast, I tried to remember what day it was today, but I couldn't think. Was it Monday? Maybe Wednesday? I didn't know All I knew was that this was the third day that I had been reunited with Edward. Although, technically, it was the second day of the deal.

- - - -

"Where are we going, Edward?" It was past noon by the time we had left his house, after loading the dishwasher (Back in Forks, we had to wash them by hand) and after he had gotten changed.

He had told me that he was taking me somewhere peaceful today, but wouldn't tell me the location, so I sat in the passenger seat of his car asking that same question every couple of minutes, hoping he would crack. He didn't.

About twelve minutes later, and three more 'Where are we going?'s, he pulled up in a little car park, with only about six parking spaces in total. You couldn't see beyond the car park because there was so many trees and vegetation that it blocked out the view. Edward walked round to my car door, backpack on his shoulder, and opened it for me, holding his hand out to help me out, in a friendly gesture, I'm sure.

He led us around the trees until we saw a tiny opening with the end of a small wooden bridge protruding from it. Once again, Edward grabbed my hand and dragged we to the bridge. As we crossed the bridge, I gasped at the sight in front of me.

It was beautiful. It was a small park, with bright green grass, colourful flowers, large, leafy plants and a few benches scattered throughout. It reminded me so much of our meadow back in Forks.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Edward spoke softly into my ear. "I come here to think sometimes. You get the occasional person walking through or sunbathing, and a few tourists, but it's usually pretty quiet. C'mon, let's go sit down." We walked into the middle of the field and I made a move to sit down, when Edward stopped me. He pulled off his jumper in one fluid motion, revealing a green wife beater, and set it on the grass next to me, and motioned for me to sit on it.

"The grass might be a little damp," he explained, "I wouldn't want you to be uncomfortable." I stared at him in wonder and offered a smile as a thank you, which he returned, and lowered himself down next to me.

I turned to him. "Edward, this place is breathtaking-"

He grabbed my hands again. "Not as breathtaking as you, Bella." I couldn't help it. I blushed, but cursed him.

"Edward… we're supposed to be trying to be friends."

Edward ran a hand down his face. "I know." He sighed. "It's just so hard."

We were quiet for a few moments, before Edward suddenly jumped and spun around, grabbing the backpack from behind and setting it between us. I looked at it questioningly.

"What?" He laughed. "You didn't expect me to bring you out here for hours with nothing to eat?" Edward proceeded to pull little sandwiches, potato chips and candy bars and spread them out in front of us.

I laughed a little. "Nutritious." I noted.

"Yup. Eat up."

- - - -

A few hours later, we were driving home. We had spent most of the day cloud watching and talking about meaningless stuff. Things that weren't important, and would keep our minds off of everything else but this week and the two of us.

When we arrived home, I was feeling extremely lethargic and wanted to go to sleep, and I assume Edward felt the same by the way he was dragging his feet. We were in the hallway between our rooms, when I turned to Edward and hugged him. He honestly _had _been trying, just letting us hang out as friends.

"Goodnight, Edward," I said softly, as Edward's arms encircled me.

"Goodnight, Bella," he whispered back. I tightened my grip from a second and let go. Just as I made a move to leave, Edward swiftly leaned down and kissed my lips, before ripping himself away and slamming his door shut.

I stood frozen in the hall for a second, before I sighed and climbed into bed, falling asleep minutes after.

_- - - -_

_Weird…_

_Anyway, I hope you guys give me your forgiveness! I promise you now that I _can _write more often, I will, but I'm not guaranteeing to update like twice a week like I did at the beginning, since I've got to go to hospital soon. But I'm just gonna say that _hopefully, _the story will be finished before the end of the summer holidays! Yay!_

'_nyways, I just wanted to ask y'all what your favourite movie is? I'm really curious. O' course, I'm a total Zoolander nut. Always takes the proverbial cake in my books._

_Don't go camping. Ever. Sleeping on the hard ground in the freezing cold, with barely a plastic sheet over your head during a rainstorm in the middle of summer while your friends roll around on you drunk and puke _just _outside of the tent to piss you off, during which time your friend has ran off at 3a.m. with half your clothes, is in no way fun. Its just not._

_Does It Offend You, Yeah? - Let's Make Out_

_Manian - Welcome To The Club_

_Bloc Party - Your Visits Are Getting Shorter_

_The Invisible - Jacob And The Angel_

_Feeder - Buck Rogers_

_- Ro x_


	10. Chapter 10

_Aloha amigos! Wei ghets?_

_Yeah. Three languages. I'm just uber intelligent like that. ;)_

_Chapter Ten. I'm sort of going round in circles at the moment. I'm so sorry for my lack of updates. I've been in l'opital. No excuses though!_

_I've got the last two chapters figured out, but it looks like there'll only be fifteen/sixteen chapters in this story. _

**Chapter Ten**

I woke up again to Edward sitting on the end of my bed, this time cross legged and facing me. He seemed to always know when I was going to wake up. Or maybe he was in here all night…

"Good morning." Edward whispered softly. I thanked him silently with a half smile, half grimace, glad he remembered that a lot of noise first thing in the morning would piss me off, and I'd probably be in a mood all day. And I'd probably throw things at him.

Heavy things.

I smiled at him as I sat up properly, rubbing my eyes. "Morning." I replied, a little louder than he had been, telling him that he didn't have to be so quiet. I noticed that Edward, like always, looked amazing. Wearing another of his 'trademark' button down shirts with a pair of jeans told me that we would be doing something casual today.

Stretching and yawning, I climbed out of bed and shuffled my way over to the walk in closet, with Edward trailing behind. We both stood in the room full of clothes, and I had absolutely no idea what to wear.

"Why did you buy me all of these ridiculously Alice-like items of clothing?" I asked him, sorting through each pile and coat hanger, looking for something half decent to wear.

"I didn't know what you'd want. You could've changed a lot in four years. I kind of thought that if you were spending that time with Alice, maybe she would have persuaded to join the dark side and start wearing miniskirts and halter tops. But I guess you haven't changed." I turned round just in time to see his small smile. Edward quickly joined my hunt, and after a few minutes, managed to pick out a pair of black leggings, some jean shorts and a chocolate coloured off the shoulder shirt. At least it wasn't a pair of gold hot pants and a bikini top. I quickly sorted out the underwear myself, expecting him to pull out a pair of socks and 'forget' a bra and pants.

I thanked him and we exited the room and returned to the bedroom.

"Do you want me to leave while you get changed?" Edward asked.

I wouldn't have thought it a big deal if I wasn't engaged to Jacob.

"How about you just turn around?" Edward nodded and faced the door, while I turned my back to him. I was pulling my clothes on when I started talking to him.

"So, is this whole sitting on my bed first thing in the morning going to be a regular occurrence?" I had donned the underwear, leggings and shorts by this point.

He laughed a little. "That doesn't bother you, does it? You know I used to like to watch you sleep. I still do. And listening to you talk."

I turned back around, now fully clothed.

"You can turn around now." I told him, and when he did, I saw that he was grinning crookedly, but only for a few seconds before his forehead sagged. "You don't talk in your sleep anymore…" He stated sadly.

I shook my head. I knew I didn't. Jacob told me that I had stopped a while ago. I blamed it on stress, and honestly, I was thankful of my lack of speech during sleep.

Edward continued speaking. "I just wanted to watch you." He blushed a little, but I was thinking about whether he _did _spend all night watching me.

Edward must have understood what I was thinking, because he hurried to explain, stumbling over his words.

"Oh no, I don't watch you all through the night! When I woke up I decided to see f you were up, and since you were still asleep and I didn't want to wake you, I just stayed in there. It was only about eight minutes, honestly." Now Edward was blushing like mad. I giggled a little, in awe at the sight of Edward _blushing._

Edward interrupted the little giggles bursting through my lips by holding his hand out to me. I took it timidly and he dragged me downstairs. As soon as we got to the hall way at the bottom of the staircase, my stomach growled. I blushed in embarrassment.

Edward just chuckled at me.

"Breakfast time!"

- - - -

Instead of eating in, Edward and I had walked a few blocks from his _mansion _to a beautiful little café. I didn't like calling it a café though, because it didn't seem like a grand enough word. The building was white brick, with stunning bay windows that had intricate designs around the glass. The tabletops were made of white marble, and the chairs were made with white latticed metal. Green leafy plants stood in corners and potted sunflowers dotted the place. The entryway even had white stone columns. I think I drooled a little.

We had ordered croissants, pancakes, waffles and rolls. It was heavenly. They even provided you with small packages of butter.

Stupid rich boy.

We had just finished breakfast, and Edward was taking me somewhere else by foot. I had learned my lesson of asking him where we were going, so I just followed like a good little person and hoped that wherever we were headed wasn't very far.

In a matter of minutes, we were walking into a rundown part of Chicago. I kept looking up at Edward, worried that one of the hobos might mug us or one of the rough looking guys walking down the street and lurking in the alleyways might walk up to us and try and knife me. But Edward just smiled reassuringly at me, but it only put my nerves at ease somewhat.

We soon turned into a narrow street, where most of the windows were either boarded up with cardboard or had just been smashed and left, glass all over the path. He led me to the end of the round, where it turned off into a gravely path.

As soon as we had walked up the path of gravel for a few seconds, I stopped and gasped.

"A carnival!"

There were broken down roller coasters, with the carts, that had all had the paint, which I believe was green at one point, scratched off, scattered along the floor, with only one or two connected to the actual railway track. And that was only part of the track that didn't have a gaping hole in it or broke off.

Stalls stood around the main rides, signs missing letters, and even hanging askew. Crooked dealers stood behind them, trying to lure the gullible in with no hope of winning a prize.

Haunted houses with boarded up windows, dodgem cars laying in the field nearby. Beer bottles, packaging and cigarette butts littered the floor.

Oh, how I missed this.

This was the kind of carnival of my youth. A _proper _carnival. The kind that Esme and Carlisle once took me and Edward to when we were teenagers. We'd all drive down to Seattle and spend the day there. It'd usually be raining and half the rides had been shut down for safety precautions, but Edward and I made the most of it.

I looked up and saw Edward smiling softly down at me, at which I returned.

- - - -

You'd expect that not a lot of people would come to this sort of place, seeing as it looks as if you could catch some sort of STD just from _looking_ at it, but there were quite a few people wandering around. Men, women, couples, toddlers - although I wonder what kind of parents would actually bring them here - children, teenagers, elderly, the lot.

I could also see quite a few drug dealers around. But that just enhanced the whole experience of a _real _carnival.

Although, seeing a man pee only a few feet away from me made my nose scrunch a little.

Edward noticed my expression, and decided to speak up.

"This is the only carnival in Chicago. The carnies know that, so why should they fix it up? Either way, they're getting business. And the people will take whatever they can get."

"Have you been here before?"

Edward shook his head. "I haven't been here, but I'd heard about it from people."

"The people you met after you left Forks?" I asked sceptically.

Edward looked a little uncomfortable, but eventually told me yes.

We were sitting on a bench now, the stuffed dog in my left hand, while my right hand was resting in my lap. We'd gone on the teacups, but the ride was so jerky that when we finally got off, Edward stood hunched over, hands on his knees, wheezing and complaining. Then he had grabbed my hand and dragged me to the ball games. He only managed to knock two of the three bottles down, even though he had gotten some good shots in. Like I said, the games were rigged. At least we were given a consolation prize: an overstuffed lopsided dog/horse, but it was cute all the same.

"And what was it that made you leave Forks that you are so uncomfortable to talk about?" I could see Edward about to say that he couldn't tell me, but I held my hand up to silence him. "You're going to have to tell me at some point."

Those words seemed to make Edward smile for a reason that I couldn't fathom. _You're going to have to tell me at some point._ Edward doesn't think that I'm saying that I'm going to stay with him, does he?

But Edward's smile dropped as he likely remembered my end statement.

"Bella," he whispered, "I wish I could tell you. And I will. It's just not the right time at the moment." I just sighed and rolled my eyes. I hadn't expected anything different.

We were both quiet for a few minutes, lost in our thoughts.

"Edward, why are you taking me to all these places? Not that I'm not enjoying it," I grinned up at him, "But… I don't know. I would've thought you'd have kept me at your house."

He smiled softly at me. "I wanted you to experience all the things I used to do with you before I had to leave. Those times were always the best times of my life. I wanted to… remind you of how happy we were together. Maybe then…" He broke off and paused for a second and shook his head, looking like he was in thought. "You remember our meadow?"

I suddenly felt a little tired. Thinking about what we used to do, and the meadow, no, _our _meadow especially, made me feel emotional and physically drained. But I acknowledged him nevertheless by nodding yes.

"Do you know how badly I want to go there again with you? It was always so peaceful, like nothing could disturb us when we were there. Even for just a couple of hours." Edward sighed and shook his head, looking like he was trying to clear his thoughts. "But anyway, since I couldn't take you there, I took you to the park. It didn't have the same significance, I guess, but it always reminded me of the meadow…"

Edward's cell phone ringing interrupted him, an annoying buzzing noise filling the air. His hand quickly dove into his pocket and plucked the device out. When he glanced at the screen though, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Hello…?" Edward asked hesitantly once he had lifted the cell hone to his ear. I raised my eyebrow at him.

"Who is this?" He asked impatiently.

"Phil? I don't know a Phil… Bella? Why do you need to speak with Bella? How did you get this number?" He was angry now, raising his voice to the man on the phone. Edward pulled the phone away from his ear, and I could hear the voice of the man on the other end, shouting back.

"It's for you Bella." Edward told me, still somewhat confused, and passed the phone over to me.

I put the phone to my ear. "Hello?" I asked, confused as to why someone was calling me, and how they got hold of Edward's number.

"Bella," the voice croaked, "it's Phil."

I listened, silently and confused, to the man talk. When he was finished, I closed the phone and handed it back to Edward, my movements automatic and stiff.

"Bella?" Edward asked quietly.

"That was Phil." I said monotonously.

"Phil?" Edward questioned.

"Phil… he's my mother's husband."

"Renee got remarried?"

"Yes."

"Bella, is something wrong? You look really pale. What did Phil say?" Edward asked, panicked, touching my face.

"Yes."

"Bella! Fuck, Bella, you're scaring me. Please talk to me!" He begged, his cheeks pink.

"Phil… he… he told me."

"Told you what?!"

"He told me… Renee's had an accident."

- - - -

_Sorry I'm not getting the Chapters out that fast, but its just like I said, I'm struggling with this story, and when I do that, I'll start writing new chapters for my other stories. And I'm also getting a lot of ideas lately for mostly one-shots which I may put up._

_I'm taking the next few chapters in a new direction from my original plot, mostly because lack of ideas, but I'm keeping the ending the same as I planned. (;_

_For one chapter, I'm thinking a lemon is needed. Or at least an acknowledgement of it. I'm not sure my lemon skills are up to scratch though. I wrote one in The Return Home, but I don't know if it's good enough. What do you guys think? R & R._

_Anyway, I'll hopefully post soon. Sayonara! Oh, and God! Thank you so much for all the reviews, adds and alerts on all my stories. You guys are fabulous!_

_- Ro x_


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